


This World

by talentlesshuman



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: F/F, F/M, Reader-Insert, idk if those kind of stories have a name but it's like a universe hopping thing, universe hopping, waking up in their world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2018-12-10 22:40:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11701332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talentlesshuman/pseuds/talentlesshuman
Summary: You are a regular student in your regular school living your regular life. You are a big fan of Danganronpa, and you suddenly find yourself in a strange situation. Thrust into the world of Super Danganronpa 2, how will you react? Will you do your best to prevent the killing game? Or will you withhold information knowing that changing things will make you obsolete? What will change because of you? What will the others think of you? (A/N: i wrote this for quotev but i have an account here so i'll just upload everything here too; this is going to be a very long fic)





	1. Doubt

        It wasn't too abnormal for you to be the first in class. The lights were dimmed and the teacher was out, most likely in the bathroom, you think. Some of the friends that you'd usually talk to in the morning were out too, on a trip of sorts for some class that you don't take. Because of this, you didn't really hold much motivation other than to sit in your desk and wait for the first bell to ring. The sound of setting your backpack down almost echoes throughout the empty classroom. So boring, school is so boring. You lie your head into your arms, preparing to get in a few moments of rest before class starts. Closing your eyes, hiding your face completely in your forearms, you escape reality. How boring.

        You think about your current obsession: the world of Danganronpa. You're the type of person to do research on your interests, and the timeline and characters of Danganronpa are exactly the kind of things you love. Especially in the sense of imagining how you would deal with the situation; not that you'd ever wish for that kind of horror to be bestowed onto you. Although, you do suppose it'd be infinitely more interesting than the monotonous life you lead at school.

        "You. Girl. Wake up. Do you know what's going on?" A rude voice breaks you from your train of thought. You shift your head a bit; you're fully conscious, but you don't want to lift your head.  
        "What do you want?" you ask, irritated and muffled. "Class is gonna start soon isn't it? Just let me sleep."  
        "Class? Get up and tell me what's going on this instant!" Clearly annoyed, he moves to shake you awake, but before he touches you your head turns to give an agitated response.  
        "What do you mean what's going o-" You notice your surroundings. "Huh?" The first thing you notice is that the classroom you had entered and the classroom you're sitting in right now are completely different: the teacher's desk replaced by a wooden podium, the whiteboard and smartboard replaced with a (green) blackboard, and the desks made of a noticeably higher quality wood. The second thing you notice is that the voice that had been pestering you belonged to a tall and large blond guy dressed in what seems to be an amazing Ultimate Imposter Byakuya Togami Cosplay. Even his voice and fluctuations are pitch perfect to the english voice acting; you're wondering why you didn't notice that earlier. The third thing you notice is that your backpack is gone. Which means your phone is gone too. "Huh?? What's going on??" A cold feeling climbs up your spine to the back of your neck.  
        "Ah I see, you're just as confused aren't you? How useless," he says as he crosses his arms and looks to the side. You know he's just acting in character, but you take offense to his words anyway.  
        "U-useless?? Well, at least I'm not some Togami wannabe! Why are you dressed up like him anyway?" You say it as a passing comment, but when you do his eyes shoot at you, glaring with a sort of fighting fire.  
        "'Dressed up like him,' you say? Now what would bring you to say that sort of thing?" Under his height and intimidating stare, you can't help but feel completely under powered.  
    "Um well, I don't mean any disrespect! You're doing a great job, you know! Your hair and eyes look spot on! And you're more than 100% in character right now. Ahahah..." you laugh nervously. He doesn't seem satisfied by your answer, but before he can respond the door opens letting two more people in. Two amazing cosplayers of Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu and Peko Pekoyama. They look confused and disorientated.  
        "What, what's this bullshit?" the Kuzuryu cosplayer remarks. "Where are we?"  
        "Looks like a classroom," says the Pekoyama cosplayer, "but it doesn't look like many people have arrived." You don't get it, all these people's costumes, features, and voices are completely spot on. Was there a live action Super Danganronpa 2 reenactment going on?  
        "Is there a convention nearby or something?" you unwittingly ask aloud. Pekoyama flashes a glare at you.  
        "It may not look like it, but I really am trained to use this sword," she says seriously, motioning the wooden sword strapped to her back. Her glare intimidates you; you make a mental note to not mention it again. You, personally, are amazed that someone had put in that much effort into their cosplay like that.  
        "Wow, you must be really dedicated," you say genuinely impressed, "but isn't carrying something like that a bit heavy?" She doesn't respond. It may have been just her trying to stick to her character rather than arguing with you, or it may have been that another person came into the room and took the attention.  
        "Um, hello." Another beautiful cosplay, Chiaki Nanami comes in easily breaking the bad air. "Who are you?" she asks, looking directly at you. You shift uneasily, clearly realizing how out of place you are. This is a gathering of characters from Danganronpa right?  
        "Me? Aha I guess I'm someone who missed the memo," you mumble, rubbing the back of your neck. "I really feel out of place here, but at least you guys are confused too, right?" The Nanami cosplayer puffs her cheeks and takes a seat, unable to come with a response.  
        This is strange though, these cosplayers aren't giving any indication that they're in cosplay, and they're not breaking character at all. Their outfits are perfect (Kuzuryu and Togami's suits look perfectly tailored to them), their hair is perfect, their voices are perfect. It's been sitting in the back of your mind, but it was too surreal that you didn't consider it as a possibility. But could it be that something supernatural is happening right now? Some sort of dimension hopping? Something like that is impossible, right? Your life isn't that interesting, right? As the rest of the Danganronpa cast slowly trickled in, all of whom were equally amazing and confused at the situation, you began to entertain this impossibility more and more. The cosplayers talked amongst each other, having characteristically fitting reactions and conversations. You take note of the fact that there have been no doubles so far in cosplays; there is only one of each character. Maybe.... no, it couldn't really be possible for something so fantastical to happen to you. You may or may not have been a naive and gullible person, but in this situation you have to hold on to some skepticism.  
        It seems most of the students have arrived, save for Hinata Hajime, Teruteru Hanamura, and Mahiru Koizumi.    
        "This sure is strange isn't it?" A voice interrupts your train of thought. You immediately recognize it, recalling the distinct sound of Bryce Papenbrook, the English voice actor of Nagito Komaeda. "You don't know what's going on either, right?" You turn to look at him. Not only is his cosplay beautiful and accurate, he looks beyond stunning.  
        "Yeah..." your voice trails off. You've always held a sort of fondness for his character, but this has you practically awestruck. The cosplayer has found perfection in portraying Komaeda's balance between feminine and masculine beauty, his impossibly bizarre hairstyle, and his endlessly calming presence. Maybe it's shallow but you find yourself wishing to become closer to him. "What's your name?" you ask.  
        "Me? Ahah, I'm nobody important," he says, waving his hand dismissively, "but since you asked, my name is Nagito Komaeda. It's nice to meet you." He smiles and looks at you expectantly. You realize he's waiting for you to give your name as well, but you hesitate. You're slightly upset that he only gave you the name of his character. You already knew who that was. You wanted to know the name of the person behind the costume. You pout, but just as you were about to oblige the attention shifted somewhere else.  
        "Now that it seems we're all here, I think we should discuss the matter at hand," announces Togami with authority. The last few people must have come in without you noticing. You glance around to find Hanamura and Koizumi, but not Hinata.  
        "Eh?! This is everyone?! How'd you figure that, huh?" interrupts the Ibuki Mioda cosplayer, making exaggerated motions with her hands. Everyone... Everyone? This isn't everyone at all; the protagonist isn't here!!  
        "There are sixteen desks in this classroom. Now that he’s here, there are sixteen of us," Togami remarks, most likely referring to the Hanamura cosplayer who was the last person to come in. "It  doesn’t take a genius to figure it out."  
        "Um, aren't we missing someone important?" you ask. Komaeda looks at you strangely. If these guys are such die hard fans of Danganronpa as their cosplays say they are, shouldn't they recognize that the protagonist isn't here yet? Unless... no, that's still too much of an impossible scenario.  
        "Really? And who may that be?" Togami asks, approaching you, towering over you, looming over you. A cold feelings crawls up your neck. Ah, what an intimidating person, you think to yourself. And yet it's so fitting for him. You notice a cosplayer for Mikan Tsumiki nervously contemplating whether or not to defuse the tense situation. But before you could respond, before Tsumiki could act, the door opened, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.  
        "...Huh?" It's Hajime Hinata. Well, Hajime Hinata's cosplayer. Just like everyone else, he looks amazing. He looks precise in his cosplay, so much so that he looks almost just as plain as the game had made him out to be.  
        "Who are you?" Pekoyama asks directly.  
        "Eh?"  
        "Um… are you quite alright? Your face appears most pale…" Sonia Nevermind's cosplayer slightly tilts her head.  
        "I... I'm..." Hinata stutters. He looks more disorientated than anyone else who had come, and yeah, he really does look pale.  
        The Mahiru Koizumi cosplayer speaks up. "Hey, maybe… Did you also just enroll here?" Enrolled? Huh?  
        "Ah! Are you all..?"  
        "Yep! That’s what it looks like. We’re the new students here," a cosplayer for Kazuichi Souda finishes. Hinata's disorientation definitely plays into his slow acceptance of new information. However, your confusion begins to mimic his as some things just don't add up to you.  
        The others continue with their conversation, becoming background sound as you think to yourself. They say they enrolled here. That they are all students here. Here? Here in your stupid public school where it's so boring and pointless that half the kids skip class? No, that isn't where Here is. These cosplayers, are they referring to the fictional Hope's Peak Academy? It's impossible for that to be here, right? They must be reading off of some sort of script, right? You must have been dragged into some sort of elaborate prank, right? You feel your heart beating faster and a hot wash going from the back of your neck to the sides of your face. Doubt and skepticism start to slowly seep out of your grasp, but you're clutching as tight as possible.  
        "Or maybe, maybe this is some kind of an 'entrance exam?'" says the closest person to you, Komaeda, draining your focus from your own thoughts to his words.  
        "An entrance exam? At Hope’s Peak Academy?" Hinata says. They have to be reading off a script.  
        "But I had thought Hope’s Peak Academy was beyond such…" Nevermind says. They must be, there's no way that they're not.  
        "Maybe that’s just what they say publicly, and there’s actually a special secret exam once the students enroll…" Komaeda says. This conversation, this dialogue feels almost word for word to the prologue of the game. Right?  
        "Ah! That’s not it! This isn’t an entrance exam!" Someone with an infinitely cute and feminine voice speaks up. Although, you know who it is.  
        " …What was that, just now?" Togami reacts; he looks around, but his expression is neither annoyed or concerned. Halfway across the room Kuzuryu clicks his tongue.  
        "Hey, Fatso…" he starts, "Don’t go making baby voices…" He looks away, unsure of himself. You notice that his confusion and conviction seems so genuine.  
        "I don’t feel like arguing about my body weight right now," Togami cooly responds, "but that voice wasn’t coming from me." He crosses his arms. You make a face, unable to decipher everyone's perfectly performed confusion.  
        "…Huh? So, who was it?" asks an Akane Owari cosplayer, annoyed.  
        "Um, it was me!!" responds the baby voice.  
        "WHO IS IT? WHERE ARE YOU!?!" yells the cosplayer of Nekomaru Nidai, bawling his fists and projecting his deep voice to all corners of the room. At this point, you remember what happens next.  
        "Isn’t it coming from behind that podium?" suggests Nanami, directing everyone's attention to the front of the classroom. As everyone else's eyes went to the podium, you notice Nanami let out a shy smile. You remember, this is the scene where Monomi is introduced as Usami.  
        "Bingo!" the baby voice starts. "It seems everyone’s here, so let’s begin!" As soon as the voice finished that announcement, bright pink ribbons of light beamed from the podium followed by cutesy sound effects and heart shaped light effects. Finally the source of that voice, Usami, pops from light. Her movements are fluid and cute, each step of her toe letting out a sort of plush toy squeak. She spins her magical wand twice before landing one leg in a sort of "Ta-daa!" motion. Despite knowing and anticipating this, you are just as dumbfounded as the rest of the students.  
        Nevermind was the first one to react. "What is that thing…?" You furrow your brow and make a decision.  
        "Um… I think it’s a stuffed doll…" Koizumi hesitantly responds. You remember what's supposed to happen next in the game.  
        "That’s right!" says Usami in a congratulatory tone. "I’m a stuffed doll. I’m made of felt. My name is 'Magical Girl Miracle Usami,' but you can just call me Usami!" She smiles and dances slightly, making a twirl before continuing, "I’m your teacher, everyone. Pleased to meet you!"  
        You let everyone's reactions to the situation fall back as you think to yourself. You know what happens next. The walls come down to reveal that we were never in a real classroom but on an island beach. You make the decision that if that happens, you will accept this situation as reality because that would be truly impossible. You will accept that you really have gone through a sort of world hopping experience. This is because everything that's happened so far could be possible. It's possible that you were so disorientated  this morning that you went into a weird place instead of your class. It's possible that you stumbled upon an amazing live action roleplay session or reenactment of Super Danganronpa 2. It's even possible that there's this amazing robot with unbelievably fluid movements.  
        As if on cue, Souda seems to respond to your thought. "That kind of movement? From a remote control?" His palm presses against his head. "This isn’t toy-level technology…" He's sweating and shaking, clearly doubting the reality of this situation.  
        "The problem isn’t how this thing is moving," Togami declares, "It’s what it seems to be saying." His expression and posture become accusatory, directed at Usami. "You know, don’t you. You know what kind of situation we’re in."  
        "Of course I know!" Usami says, giggling. "I’m the supervising teacher for this field trip, after all!" She smiles, seeming content and proud of herself for her position.  
        "Field trip..?" Togami is taken aback. "What do you mean, 'field trip?'"  
        "It means a school event where students go on a trip and perform group activities under the supervision of a teacher!" Usami answers, smiling to herself.  
        Hinata hesitates to react, saying under his breath, "W, we weren’t asking for a definition…"  
        "Let’s get going!" Usami raises her paw and wand with a smile. "Your fun field trip starts nooow!" Her wings flutter, and the room begins to rumble as pink lights shine across the room.  
        This is it, you think to yourself. This will be the proof that you are no longer in your world. You're sweating, that hot wash from earlier is back and ten times worse. But also you're incredibly cold, goosebumps cover your arms and a chill feeling crawls up your spine. This is it, you think to yourself.  
        The roof opens up, the walls fall down, revealing a blindingly bright sky with a tropical backdrop. Crashing waves and swaying palm trees fill in your eardrums. It's a truly beautiful scene, but how do I say this? You fainted.


	2. Introductions

        You almost expected to wake up to the sound of crashing waves, to the feeling of soft sand pressing against your back and head, to the sight of a clear blue sky and a cute white haired boy. Ah, but that didn't really happen, did it? You awaken to the sound of arguing teenagers and a soft embrace. It's warm and comforting; for a moment you even press yourself into cloth, trying to lose yourself inside it. You quickly jolt yourself to consciousness when you realize that when you had fainted, someone had caught you. He probably wouldn't have felt as plush if it weren't for his hoodie; you threw yourself off as soon as you could stand on your own.  
        "Ah I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to faint," you say, wobbling slightly. "I can't believe this is really happening..."  
        "Hey, hey, there's no need to apologize. Are you really alright?" Komaeda moves to give you support. You hesitate and back away a little, not wanting to cause trouble.  
        "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess," you respond. You realize that the panicked voices from earlier had died down; seems like Usami was finally able to get a word in.  
        "... And these electronic student handbooks also has a little digital pet you can raise by walking!" she announces, holding up a sort of smartphone, something you were familiar with. Togami was the first to respond.  
        "Do you think this is some sort of game?!" he accuses. Usami whimpers and hides herself under her paws.  
        "Oh!! It's like a tamagotchi toy!" Mioda exclaims. "You gotta clean up it's poop and stuff, right?"  
        "That's right!" Usami says, immediately revitalizing herself. "Welp! I'll let all you lovely classmates to gather some hope shards together! Tootles~!" With that, Usami disappears by tapping herself with her wand.  
        "Wait! What are we-!" Koizumi starts, but the field trip supervisor was already gone. There's a quiet moment before someone starts again.  
        "Well that was stupid and pointless," Hiyoko Saionji huffs. "What am I supposed to do now?" She puts a hand on her hips, acting more annoyed than anything else.  
        "Well, we could go explore the island," you add, thinking about how the story progresses as you remember it.  
        "Exploring?!" Souda says, exasperated. "Shouldn't we be thinking of a way to get out of here?" He looks around, hoping to find someone to agree with him.  
        "Actually.. um.." you hear Tsumiki start a rebuttal, but she quickly succumbs to her shyness, shutting herself up. No one else really seemed to notice.  
        "Actually, I was going to suggest the same thing," says Togami crossing his arms. "We need to make sure that we can survive on this island until we can find a way off." He looks to the rest of the island. "First the essentials: food, shelter, water. Then if possible, something that could help us off the island."  
        "That's totally right!" Owari exclaims with a comically worried expression on her face. "We seriously need to make sure there's food here!"  
        "Woo!! Ibuki is down for some exploration!" Mioda throws a fist in the air. "Maybe we'll find an ancient treasure and trigger a boobytrap that has us running away from a huge ball!"  
         "Ugh shut up, you pig!" Saionji scowls.  
         "This plan seems pleasing to the spirits of the dark," Gundum Tanaka says, smiling. One or two people make a worried glance at Tanaka; others roll their eyes. You think you misheard, but he added something about food for his devas.  
        "Alright! Sounds like a plan! Let's go!!" Nidai says, already beginning heading off. Huh? Right now?? Others begin to leave, but before anyone leaves the beachy sand you speak up.  
        "Hey!! Um!" you call to them. They turn around with varying expressions from annoyed to curious. "Shouldn't we, um, introduce ourselves?" you hesitate, nervous under the pressure of all these ultimates' attention. "I mean, we're all supposed to be classmates, right?"  
        "That sounds like a good idea," Nanami was the first one to respond. There's a moment of silence before she smiles and tilts her head. "I can go first: I'm Chiaki Nanami, Super High School Level Gamer."  
        "I'm Byakuya Togami, the Super High School Level Heir." Togami eyes you expectantly, you avert your gaze.  
        "Yo yo! I'm Ibuki Mioda!" She moves with high energy, not dissimilar to an excited puppy. "I'm the Super High School Level Musician!" She ends her statement with rock-on hand motions. Souda goes next, seeming to follow in order of furthest to closest to you.  
        "The name's Kazuichi Souda, nice to meet ya!" His hands rest behind his head and he's showing off his teeth in a wide smile. "Call me the Ultimate Mechanic! If you ever need somethin' fixed you can come straight to me!" He holds himself in a way that clearly refers to Nevermind.  
        "My name is Sonia Nevermind," she starts, perhaps thinking Souda's gesture was one telling her to go next. "I hold the title of Super High School Level Princess." She smiles and folds her hands in her lap.  
        "I am Peko Pekoyama," she says, not looking at anyone. "I'm the Super High School Level Swordswoman."  
        "Swordswoman, huh? I could help you with that!" Nidai mentions. "I'm Nekomaru Nidai! And I'm the Ultimate Team Manager!" He flexes intensely and points at Pekoyama. "And if anyone needs help, they can come to me as their coach!" There was only one response.  
        "Hell yeah!" Owari cheers, putting a hand on her hip and grins. "The name's Akane Owari! Super High School Level Gymnast!"  
        "I'm Mahiru Koizumi," she grins, and you can't help but notice how cute she is. "It's not all that amazing, but my Ultimate Talent is being a Photographer." She raises the camera hanging from her neck slightly before putting it back down.  
        "My name is Teruteru Hanamura," he says immediately. It seems like he was eager to introduce himself. "I'm the Super High School Level Chef." He winks and grins, "and if there's anything I could do for you cute ladies, let me know." You, along with some other girls, cringe and look away.  
        There's a short pause before the next person in line to introduce decides to speak up. "Kuzuryu. Ultimate Yakuza." He doesn't make eye contact and turns to make sure he doesn't.  
        "Hm, yakuza huh?" Tanaka starts, "I am the unholy spawn of an Angel and a Demon known as Gundum Tanaka! I am also known as the Ultimate-" There's a ruffling under his scarf; one or two classmates lean in, curious. Suddenly, Tanaka's four hamsters pop out ostentatiously, "Breeder!!" Tanaka strikes a dramatic pose along with his pet rodents. "And these are known as my Dark Devas of Destruction," he mentions before putting them back underneath his scarf.  
        "Oh shut up!! Don't be so uselessly dramatic, you piece of shit," says Saionji rudely. "You definitely don't deserve to know it, but my name's Hiyoko Saionji, and don't even dare call me by my first name unless you're my mom! I'm Super High School Level Traditional Dancer."  
        "Um, I, I'm Mikan Tsumiki," she says smiling and looking away. "Y, you could call me by my first name if you want, or not I guess, if you don't want to..." She starts to fiddle with her fingers. "I, I'm the Ultimate Nurse, it's nice to mee-"  
        "Shut up you stinky whore!" Saionji interrupts. You shoot her a glare, but she doesn't notice. Tsumiki whimpers, crying an apology before raising her arms to defend herself.  
        "I guess I'm next, huh?" Komaeda says, trying to break the tension a bit. "I'm Nagito Komaeda, it's not as amazing as the rest of your guys, but I'm  Super High School Level Luck." He smiles, waving a hand. "It's nice to meet you all."  
        "Luck? That's not a talent, you stupid maggot," Saionji retorts. Something in you snapped a little.  
        "Oh shut up, you rude little gremlin!" you yell. Hiyoko Saionji has always been such a fundamentally unlikable character, and you were fully aware that it wasn't her fault (it was the writers'), but that didn't stop you from disliking her. As satisfying as it felt to say that, you remember her personality type. She started bawling. She started crying like a baby without its pacifier, like a middle aged white guy finding out his team lost the championship.  
        "I can't, can't believe you'd say something like that!" she says, whimpering between big huffs of air. Tears stream out of her eyes like nobody's business. You know what would happen if you tried to console her, and you're fully aware what will happen if you bribe her to stop crying. However, in this situation, with everyone staring at you like this, you don't really have any other options.  
        "Hey hey, there..." you say reaching to pat her head. You don't though, your hand hovers just over hair making the motion of patting her. "I'm sorry, okay? How about this? If you stop crying, I'll get you some candy, okay?" And of course, she stops crying.  
        "Hahah!" She sneers, "you totally fell for it, you ugly idiot!" She points a finger at you, face completely clear of signs of crying. "Now you owe me candy! And it better gummy bears, or else!"  
        You sigh, knowing that would happen. "That's fine, I guess." There's a pause before realize you're the last person to introduce yourself, and also that you don't exactly have a "Super High School Level." Not really knowing what to say, you begin to sweat. You've got a few skills here and there but nothing that could possibly be considered ultimate. It needs to be something you can prove, or something that you don't need to prove. Your mouth moves before your brain does. "I'm, um, [name] [lastname], and uh," oh god what do you say?? "And I'm the uhh," should you just not say anything? Hinata didn't say anything either, but maybe it'd be too suspicious to have two students not know their talent. Think, something you can prove, not too suspicious. "And I'm the Ultimate Seer," you announce. Seer? Where'd that come from? It's perfect! The title of seer is vague enough that they won't think you're suspicious. It also gives you a scapegoat if you ever happen to say too much.  
        "Seer..? What's that?" Owari asks, rubbing her head a bit. "I've never really heard of anything like that before." You smile, preparing an answer.  
        "Don't worry, not a whole lot of people know about seers, but basically they're kind of like fortune tellers. Except they know a little less about the future and a little more about the past and present." Owari, along with a few others, give a confused expression as you continue. "Basically, I use spiritual power to gain information," you bullshit. "For instance, Akane Owari," you put a hand to your forehead and close your eyes as you pretend to call upon the powers beyond, "you grew up in a large household and had to work odd jobs to feed your siblings and parents."  
        "Woah! You're totally right!" Owari says amazed. A few people mumble to each other, probably doubting you. "How'd you know?"  
        "It's my talent!" You smile to proudly yourself. There's a quiet pause before someone speaks up again.  
        "Then can you find out anything about our current situation?" Komaeda asks. You blush, feeling embarrassed. Something in you wants to say yes, to impress everyone of this power you don't have. However, you know that you can't say anything big, or something unpredictable could happen.  
        "Ah, sorry," you look away and rub the back of your neck. "I actually can't tell what's going on right now, but I have a feeling we should stay alert." You think about whether or not this really is following the events of Super Danganronpa 2, with Monokuma, with the killing game. Or perhaps, hopefully, this is the Island Mode where nothing bad happens, and you just get to hang out with everyone, worry free.  
        Interrupting your thought, everyone's electronic student handbooks ping. The sound of shuffling through pockets seem to echo as everyone looks at their screens. You're somewhat surprised to find one in your pocket as well, when did Usami give you one? The screen shines with 8 bit font and a bolded text.  
        "Hope Shard Acquired!"

        With that, everyone began to disperse, jogging, walking, and for a few, sprinting to explore the island. You and Komaeda stay back, walking on the beach. Komaeda says it's to inspect this area a little more, but you know it's because of Hinata.  
        "You know, it's actually really nice out," you say, trying to start small talk. You weren't wrong either, whether you do or don't enjoy warm weather, everything about the sky and scene and even the person you were with calmed you.  
        "It really is, isn't it?" Komaeda replies, smiling his usual smile. There's a pause. "So you're the Ultimate Seer, huh?" He says, changing the subject. "Does that mean you know a lot about me too?" His question is innocent, but you recognize his worry of you knowing his past, his personality.  
        "Hmm.." you trail off, thinking of a response. "I know that you prefer salty foods to sweet ones," you say jokingly.  
        "Ahah, you're right!" he says, congratulating you. "But is there... anything else?" He looks into your eyes, and you know that what you're thinking of is not what he's referring to, but a blush spreads across your cheeks anyway.  
        "Um," pushing a stray strand of hair behind your ear, you look aside and brush away your blush. "Listen Komaeda, I wouldn't give any information you wouldn't want me to," you look at him, "you can trust me, okay?" He looks back at you, looking from your right eye to your left, judging you. He sighs and smiles, looking away.  
        "Well, that's a relief," he says, "I wouldn't want everyone knowing my favorite undergarments were gray plaid." You giggle, and then you laugh, raising your hand to cover your mouth. He smiles like he had just seen the cutest kitten turn in its sleep.

        And then, Hinata turns in his sleep.


	3. Your Heart Beats Faster

         He really looks like nothing more than a background character. Even now, as he's unconscious on the sandy beach, you can't help but think how plain Hajime Hinata looks. You and Komaeda lean over him, like surgeons over a patient. You think to yourself how odd it is that this boy, this unbelievably plain boy, is not only the protagonist but also Izuru Kamikura, a being with synthetic ultimate talent.  
        "Do you think he's okay?" Komaeda asks, looking at you. You want to say yes, to tell everything you know like a guilty confession. You want to relieve all the pain that has yet to happen and could possibly never happen if you do something right here, right now. You look in his eyes, and you know that you can't do it.  
        You open your mouth. You close it. "Well," you start, "why don't you ask him yourself?" Komaeda gives you a strange glance before looking back at Hinata.  
        "Ahem, hey," he calls. "Hey, can you hear me?" Hinata's hands twitch as his eyes slowly begin to open. "Hey, are you alright? You look exhausted. I am too, you know. We all are," Komaeda continues. The protagonist is squinting now, looking between you and Komaeda. You feel nervous under his gaze, and you can't quite tell why. Komaeda doesn't notice. "I mean, with all the crazy stuff that happened, it makes sense for you to have this kind of reaction." Hinata opens his mouth.  
        "..." He changes his mind, closing it.  
        "Hey, are you listening?" Komaeda glances at you; you shrug, and he looks back at Hinata. At this point Hinata's eyes must've adjusted because he isn't squinting anymore. You offer a hand to help him up, but he ignores it, silently standing up on his own.  
        "..." He looks around; he still looks pale and disorientated. Komaeda looks a little worried for him. You know how this plays out, you know that Hinata is more than fine, but you feel worried for him anyway. Maybe it's because you're seeing it in person, or maybe you're subconsciously mimicking Komaeda. Either way, you speak up.  
        "Do you need any help?" you ask, reaching out to him. "Hello?" Hinata pulls away and looks at you. The look in his eyes is not dissimilar to the annoyed look you'd get finding a pebble in your shoe. Your heart, for some reason, beats faster.  
        "You… are okay, right?" Komaeda asks, worried.  
        "I… Just," he hesitates. "Leave me alone," he says. His hands pat himself down, brushing away scattered specks of sand. You and Komaeda exchange looks, not moving from your places.  
        "Oh, I couldn’t possibly leave someone who looks as sick as you alone." He smiles a bit and then shuffles uneasily. The slow development puts you in an awkward situation. In the game, this scene moved so much faster. It's almost like knowing the script to a show and watching the actors stutter their lines. Hinata looks around, closes his eyes for a moment, and opens them back up.  
        "That… thing said we’re on a southern island, didn’t it?" He looks annoyed. You want to say that where the island is doesn't matter, and that nothing is real.  
        "Yup," you say instead. "It calls itself Usami or something, right?" You get no response, and you recoil slightly in embarrassment. Hinata looks around again, this time actually walking here and there. He paces randomly for a second before stopping in front of the ugly yellow camera set on a thick tripod. You're familiar with the camera. Although, in the game, since the graphic was only 2D, you didn't see it moving, but here in real life, you realize that it's constantly eyeing anyone nearby. It's honestly a little unsettling, as if it were probing you.  
        "This is a camera, isn’t it?" he quietly confirms to himself. "A security camera? Are they spying on us?!" His exclamation catches you off guard.  
        "Ah! There's no need to be so paranoid for something like that!" You let out a breath. "It's a security camera, right? Maybe it's just for security," you say, thinking about store security cameras.  
        "It's probably not for spying on us," Komaeda reasons. "I think you could say they’re watching over us to keep us from danger." Hinata looks at the two of you like he had just seen one of your eyes change colors. Like something weird is happening, but he can't be sure if he imagined it or not. "But hey, you can’t help but feel worried about things you have no control over, can you?" Komaeda smiles and waves his hand a little as he tries to brush away Hinata's worry. You look at his cute expression and calming presence and smile too. You can't help it. You find your heart beating faster. Your heart is beating faster? What? Why is your heart beating faster? Um, you need to say something to distract yourself.  
        "Hey so how are you feeling now?" you start. "Are you okay? It couldn't have felt good to fall on the sand like that." You assume he fell on the sand, but honestly you don't know; you didn't see it happen. "Ah, that reminds me actually," you turn to Komaeda. "Thanks for catching me when I fainted, um." You think for a moment, did Hinata watch you faint too? Did he watch Komaeda catch you? Embarrassing. "Thanks." You blush.  
        "It's no problem," Komaeda says. "I mean, we're all messed up right now because of what happened, but," he pauses, looking at you and then back at Hinata "We should really introduce ourselves, don’t you think?" Huh? Was there a reason he looked at you?  
        "Yeah," Hinata shifts a little, hesitating. "I guess we should." He looks at you expectantly; you stare back not really knowing how to respond. Thankfully, Komaeda goes first.  
         "Pleased to meet you. My name is Nagito Komaeda." He waves again, smiling carefree like the personification of a flower. "Oh, and since we’re introducing ourselves," he starts, "I guess I should explain the talent that got me into Hope’s Peak Academy." He looks to the side and crosses his arms. You give him a sort of disappointed look, knowing what he's gonna say next. "Though, in my case, it’s kind of a lousy talent."  
        "It's not!" you claim, taking both of the boys off guard. "It's really more than amazing..." you drift off, looking down and fiddling with the hem of your shirt. You try to choose your words carefully. "It's more than amazing, and you know it," you mumble, somewhat hoping that they didn't hear you. Komaeda looks at you oddly.  
        "Why would you call a talent 'lousy?'" Hinata asks.  
        "Well, my talent is having good luck," he says plainly. You look away.  
        "Excuse me?" Hinata reacts. Komaeda laughs and put his hands up defensively.  
        "I’m not joking. It’s official. That’s my talent." You frown, upset about what he's going to say, but you know that he thinks his talent is amazing as well. "They called me 'Super High School Level Good Luck.'"  
        "You’re serious?" Hinata confirms with skepticism. "Super High School Level… Good Luck?"  
        "..." you prepare to say something, another burst of awkward passion for Komaeda's talent, but you hold back. You close your mouth and take a few steps away from their conversation. Crossing your arms, you hear them talk behind you.  
        "What was that about? Is she okay?" asks the voice of Johnny Yong Bosch, the English voice actor of Hajime Hinata.  
        "She might be a bit disorientated like you," explains the voice of Byrce Papenbrook. "She fainted too after all." You shut your eyes, you need to clear your mind.  
        "Yeah I remember," Hinata starts, before lowering his voice to a level you can't hear. That's good. You take in big breaths of air, in, out. In, out. You can't just say things in the moment like that anymore. Your actions from this point have to be calculated; you can't risk doing something that will drastically change the outcome of the story. You want to. You want to stop everything before it begins, and for a moment you wonder why you can't. Why can't you just prevent the killing game? Why don't you just find that stupidly dramatic final door and punch in 11037? It could be so simple, but it isn't. You want to be naive enough to think that the simplest solution will be the correct one. "What about you?"  
        "Huh?" You spin around, caught between your thoughts and the situation at hand. You stutter, "I, I'm sorry what was that?"  
        "Komaeda just introduced himself," Hinata starts. "What's your name?" The two of them look at you. Ah, it seems like when you weren't paying attention they had already introduced themselves.  
        "Ah sorry. It's Hajime Hinata, right? It's nice to meet you, I'm [name] [lastname]." You smile, but Hinata gives you a strange glance. For a moment you expect the scene to go to a patterned backdrop with two name cards and a title card to fly by and introduce you, followed by a techno sound effect not dissimilar to an enemy dying in an old shoot-em-up game. But that didn't happen; what did happen is Hinata speaking up before you finished.  
        "Wait, how did you know my name?" He takes a step back. Ah shit. Well, at least it looks like you didn't miss out on Hinata's introduction. Komaeda gave a small smug smile before you continued.  
        You giggle, "Are you surprised? That's my talent!" You smile, bringing a hand close to your lips, and shut one eye. "I'm Super High School Level Seer." You feel both pride and relief that you had chosen this talent, otherwise things would have become very strange very quickly. Hinata furrows his brow. "You're confused aren't you," you say, putting on a disappointed expression. "My talent is being able to use spiritual power to gain information."  
        "'Spiritual power?' That definitely sounds strange," Hinata says. "But does that mean you can find out some things about our situation?" Ah, how do you respond to this?  
        "Well..." You close your eyes as you think for a moment. What kind of information can you give? "Hmm..." Maybe you could just give vague answers, like a village elder reciting a legend in roleplaying video games. Maybe not, that would just make things more confusing for them, right? "I guess I'm not all that great at reading the energy of a situation." You open your eyes. "For the most part I just find information on people." Hinata looks disappointed, Komaeda does too. Ah! You can't help yourself! You just want to tell them anything, anything that would give them some amount of hope. "But if you really want to know what the spirits are telling me..." The two lean in, curious. "They say to be wary of a black and white bear, stay on guard."  
        "A black and white bear..?" Hinata starts. His tone is skeptical. "You mean like a panda?" You giggle. You wish you could tell him more, but you really can't risk becoming more suspicious.  
        "I guess it could be," you say between giggles. You run a hand through your hair. "It's silly right? I didn't want to mention it because of how bizarre it is."  
        "Not really if you think about it," says Komaeda. "Compared to all the strange things that have happened so far," he looks at you, "I think I can believe in something like that. Plus, I trust in your ability." You blush, avert your gaze.  
        "Hey so, uh," you start, wanting to change subjects. "You didn't really introduce yourself yet, right?" You look at Hinata and grin. "Your turn now!"  
        "Oh. Well as you know, my name is Hajime Hinata." He says, shifting to a formal posture.  
         "I have a question, Hinata." Komaeda rests his hand on his chin, looking off to the side. "What kind of Super High School Level ability do you have?" His eyes trail back to Hinata, looking at his left eye and then his right. He smiles, eager to hear the answer. You can also tell he's running through possibilities in his mind, trying to guess what his ability could be. You can practically hear "What is Hajime Hinata's talent?" repeating in his mind. Of course, you already know, but you look at Hinata eagerly.  
        "Um, I," he stutters. "I, I…" His posture falls from its formality and his face drains of color. "Huh..?" Quickly you move to help him as his hand goes to his head, covering half an eye. You're in position for him to lean on you if he needs to; your arms awkwardly hover around his shoulders. Your heart is beating faster with concern that he might actually faint again.  
        "Hinata! is something wrong?" Komaeda asks, panicked. He moves to help the protagonist as well, but before either of you make contact he pushes you and Komaeda away.  
        "What? N, no!" He stands on his own, rubbing his temples with the palm of his hand. "I think I’m still a little bit confused... I, I can’t seem to remember very well," he says with an apologetic expression.  
        "You can’t remember?" Komaeda arcs a brow and then sighs with a tinge of disappointment. "I suppose with everything that’s happened some memory loss isn’t that strange, but hey!" Komaeda motions towards you. "Shouldn't someone like the Ultimate Seer be able to find out?" He smiles and Hinata follows suit with a hopeful look.  
        "That's right," Hinata starts, "you were able to learn my name through that skill, right? I'm not sure if I believe in spirits and all that, but I'll believe in your talent." The two taller boys stare at you expectantly. You rub the back of your neck and start to sweat.  
        "Wow," you laugh, "the pressure's really on, huh?" You look at Komaeda; his smile is innocent and serene. You look at Hinata who looks confident and calm. Okay, you definitely have to come up with an answer; there is no way you'd be able to bring yourself to disappoint the two of them. Raising a hand to your chin, you sigh and close your eyes. "Hm..." Obviously you can't tell the whole truth, but you can't exactly make something up. It looks like you're gonna have to be grossly vague again. "Your Super High School Level," you say to Hinata, "is truly amazing!" You open your eyes and bring your hands together, intertwining your fingers. The motion is not dissimilar to praying, and honestly you could probably see yourself praying to a being such as Izuru Kamikura. You blush at the embarrassing motion, but you need to sell your passion. "It's something that absolutely transcends my- or even both of our- talents."  
        "Really? That's awesome!" Hinata starts. "What is it?" You recoil bashfully. Your hand returns to rubbing the back of your neck.  
        "Ah, it seems like I'm a little out of it, or something. I really can't put my finger on it, but if you really trust my ability as you say," you say to both Komaeda and Hinata, "then you will trust that Hajime Hinata has an amazing talent." You think about the fourth trial, about when Komaeda discovers that particular book through the life threatening game. You think about how cruelly he began treating Hinata afterward, and you think about how, hopefully, this could change things a little bit. Hinata, albeit relieved, still holds a sort of disappointed expression.  
        "You really can't see what my talent is, huh?" His gaze falls to the side. Komaeda takes notice and speaks up.  
        "Hey, I’m sure it’s just shock, or something," he starts. "I’m more than sure the two of you will recover soon!" Komaeda smiles and waves his hand. "So try not to worry too much, okay?" You smile and your heart starts beating faster. This must be what it feels like as a puppy being told 'good boy!'  
        "Yeah," Hinata starts, still somewhat unsure of himself. "I guess…"  
        "Th, thanks!" you say a little too happily. Hinata's mood seems to lighten up a little. Komaeda smiles brightly.

        "Well it looks like we’re done with our introductions. I’m not really sure what’s going on, but I hope we can be friends." At that moment the three of your electronic student handbooks ping; the sudden and unexpected sound startles Hinata.  
        "Hey, did you hear something just now?!" Finding enjoyment in Hinata's over cautiousness, you giggle.  
        "Yeah! Check your pockets!" as you said that Hinata had already shot his hand into his pocket. You and Komaeda casually take out your handbooks and look at the bolded text that read 'Hope Shard Acquired!' "Usami gave it to us, they're supposed to be student handbooks," you explain, trying to move the scene further.  
        "That's right!" congratulates Usami, popping out of nowhere and startling everyone.  
        "Uwah!" you react, expecting her but still jumping at her sudden entrance.  
        "Gah! H, Hey, how, where the hell did you come from?!" Hinata questions. He takes a step back in surprise, his stance defensive.  
        "Aw, did I startle you? I’m so sorry," she says as her wings flutter a bit. She giggles. "Tee-hee, I’m not ashamed of apologies. They’re very important!" You smile and roll your eyes. You really wanted to avoid this tutorial, but you can't help feeling kinda fuzzy inside when Usami pops up. "By the way," she continues, "isn’t that thing so cool? Isn’t it?" She puts up a paw, attempting to make the motion of waving a finger. "It’s a crucial part of this field trip, so please don’t lose it!"  
        "This device is… important?" Hinata says, slowly absorbing even more bizarre new information.  
        "Yep," you intervene. "The reason we're being kept on this island is to become closer." You take a quick glance at Komaeda and then back at Hinata. "Usami's task for us is to collect all the 'Hope Shards,' and in order to do so we have to strengthen our bonds." For the most part you're just explaining so things can move along more quickly. Making a triumphant pose, Usami nods her head and puts her paws on her hips (or what are supposed to be her hips?).  
        "You've got that right!" She giggles. "Ah my students are so smart!" she says congratulating you. If you were a dog, your tail would be wagging. "Please work hard to gather all the Hope Shards~! Love love!" And with that her wings flutter cutely as she bops herself with her wand, disappearing in the blink of an eye.  
        "Hey, wait!" Hinata reaches out to thin air with confusion and questions still dripping from his lips. "What are these," he hesitates, trying to find the right word, "'Hope Shards', she said? What are they for?" He takes a step back and rests a palm on his forehead. "And why does she even want them so badly? It’s like we’re playing a game." He seems to visibly tense up.  
        On the inside you think to yourself, "if only it were that kind of game."  
        "If this is just a game, it’d be a relief," Komaeda starts. "If nothing else, it’d mean we’re not actually in any danger." He's smiling again, carefree as usual. Looking at him, you smile too.  
        "I, I guess you’re right," he says, relaxing a bit.  
        "But hey! You need to go around and meet the other students!" you say, thinking about how the story progresses. "You should definitely go introduce yourself to everyone."  
        "Yeah, I probably should." His eyes graze over the beach and then the area behind you and Komaeda. "But, where did they all go?"  
        "I think they’re still exploring the island," Komaeda mentions. You sigh, tired, bored, and annoyed at the slow development of the scene. Once again it feels just as if they're reading off a script. Komaeda and Hinata continue reciting their lines, just as you remember them in the game. You look off to the rest of the island; it's beautiful with the soft breeze and the swaying palm trees. You think about your next moves; you think about how you should treat your classmates. You're surprised at how much you were able to keep yourself together, somehow acting as normal as you have been around characters who you've held a sort of infatuation over and who also aren't even supposed to be real. Your heart throbs. Why? Is it because you're worried about losing these characters, watching them die, in real time? Or is it because you're afraid to truly build a bond with them then one day find that nothing that's happened to you is reality. You clutch at the clothes on top of your heart. No, you can't be thinking about this right now. You have to focus on the situation at hand. The situation at hand. Hand? A hand lands on your shoulder. "Are you listening? I asked, 'are you coming with us?'"  
        "Huh?" Ah, you weren't paying attention again. Your eyes trail back to the two boys, and Komaeda's hand quickly retracts itself from your shoulder. "Sorry, I must really be out of it right now," you say.  
        "Are you alright?" Komaeda starts. "I called you twice already." He looks at you worryingly. You laugh nervously.  
        "Ahaha, sorry," you say. "I'm fine, really. There's no need to worry about me." You smile at them; they trade unconvinced looks with each other. Your heart beats faster. You're not sure if it's because you're ashamed that these two people, who you idolized, worry for you or if it's because you're worried about becoming more suspicious. You find it difficult to meet their gaze; you feel as if you're shrinking. "Um," you start, "you guys were talking about exploring the island right?" You raise a finger at yourself, expressing your decision. "I'll tag along too, it sounds like fun!" You turn around, ready to march off.  You may have seen incorrectly, but you think Hinata blushed a little.  
        "Let’s go, then!" Komaeda says, joining you. As the two of you step off the sand, you turn to realize that Hinata had barely moved an inch. "What’s wrong, Hinata? We should go."  
        "Y, yeah." He quickly gathers his thoughts and catches up to the two of you. You smile at him; he awkwardly smiles back. Komaeda notices the exchange and speaks up.  
        "Oh right, there’s a map of the island in our handbooks," he says reaching into his pocket. "It’ll come in handy for exploring the island." He smiles, retrieving his student handbook and pulling up the map. As we lean in to see he makes an expression like he just remembered something else. "Also, I, um," he thinks for a moment, contemplating whether or not to continue. "I looked up information about everyone before I came to the school," he explains. "I can tell you some useful stuff about most of them. Not all of them, though." He smiles with thin strands of pride slipping from his lips.  
        "You mean, you actually found information about them on the web?" Komaeda seemed to have caught Hinata's interest, his tone is hopeful. You furrow a brow.  
        "Eh? You don’t know?" Komaeda looks shocked and unbelieving. His expression reminds you of when a passionate friend realizes you have no knowledge their pop culture subject, which honestly isn't all that different from the situation right now. "Whenever Hope’s Peak Academy recruits a new class, the message boards go a bit crazy," Komaeda explains.  
        "Does that mean," Hinata hesitates, choosing his words. "Did you find something about me on there too?"  
        "No, I don’t think so. There was way too much info for me to read, though…" he thinks for a moment. "Maybe I missed it?" He laughs before waving away the topic. "Quite a coincidence, isn’t it? You can’t remember anything yourself, after all." You can almost physically see Hinata's confidence drop. You never quite understood the meaning of including this scene in the game. Was it just to further the suspense of Hinata's talent? It feels like something like this is too cruel, teasing Hinata with information that isn't there, diminishing his self esteem. You huff.  
        "Hey, what about me?" you ask, pointing to yourself. "Did you happen to see something about the Ultimate Seer?" You're hoping that you weren't mentioned on the message boards either, maybe Hinata will doubt himself a little less. Komaeda puts a finger to his chin and thinks for a moment.  
        "Hm, the Super High School Level Seer..." he starts. "Sorry, looks like I can't remember." He smiles and lets out a single laugh. "Looks like I'm pretty useless after all!" he says with the smile still plastered on his face. You're really taken aback; your attempt at raising Hinata's confidence backfired!  
        "Hey, don't say that!" you reply, hitting Komaeda on his arm lightly. You and Komaeda laugh carefree while Hinata remains with a sort of cautious attitude.  
        The three of you are just about to arrive at your first destination, the airport. You were prepared to experience the interesting interactions and introductions of the rest of the students. You were excited to see all of it in live action right before your eyes. However, there's something you need to consider first. "Hey, um," you start. The two turn their heads to look at you. "Sorry, there's actually something I'd like to do first."  
        "Hm? What is it?" asks Komaeda. You take a step backwards.  
        "Nothing big, I just want to see someone." Wait, does that sound too suspicious?  Whatever, you can think about that later. "Sorry, if you need me I'll be around the hotel!" With that you run off, pulling out your student handbook.  
        Between the sounds of distant crashing waves, blowing wind, and your own steps, you can't be sure if you really heard them calling out for you, but you'd like to imagine that they did. You pull up the map of the island, heading toward the hotel. Compared to the conveniences of video game running and fast travel, it feels like an eternity before you reached your destination. You're huffing and sweating from the run, and the shining sun didn't help much either. You press against the big doors underneath the large sign saying "Hotel Mirai," heaving it open. On the other side you see the familiar lines of cottages followed by a swimming pool at the end. You walk at a regular pace, counting the hotel rooms as you pass. One, two, three, four... twelve, thirteen, fifteen... sixteen. There are sixteen cottages. For seventeen residents. Your heart beats faster; this time it's because you might be fucked.


	4. End of Prologue

        This is definitely gonna make you look suspicious. There is no way that this wouldn't make you seem suspicious. You blink twice. You count all the cottages again. You blink once. You're sweating. I mean, you were sweating before, but now it's for a different reason. Your heart rate escalates, and your is breathing uneven and heavy. Is... is this a panic attack? Your knees feel weak as if they were made of tissue paper. Your palm goes to your temples to wipe away as much sweat as possible before you pause just over your eye. Breathe. That's all you need to do, in, out. In, out. You close your eyes. It's fine, this is fine. Nothing bad has happened yet, and you're not 100% sure this isn't the Island Mode so for now you're completely fine. Without the killing game there'd be no reason to become suspicious of each other anyway. You have no reason to worry; as it stands Usami still has her magical wand which means she still has the power to manipulate the world. It'll be like that time she transformed a chicken into a cow. Therefore, she can fix you up a cottage; you have no reason to worry. You have no reason to worry about this right now. You even out your breathing, and you open your eyes. You don't know when it happened, but your hand had been clutching at your chest. Also, you notice that someone had been watching your panic attack. 

        "Hey... are you alright?" he's trying not to sound worried with his head turned to the side, making the least amount of eye contact as possible. You're a bit baffled at his concern. He's not the type to worry about someone like you, at least not yet. "Make no mistake," he continues, "I definitely don't care for you, alright?" Ah, there's the attitude of the Ultimate Yakuza. You smile and take in his appearance. Maybe it was because you saw him that hectic situation earlier, but you're just noticing how cute he looks. Round eyes with thick lashes along with soft cheeks dusted with a blush, it almost makes you nervous. 

        "Thank you," you quietly reply. "And uh," wondering whether or not to say what you wanted to say, you pause. "..."

        "What is it? Spit it out! You wanna fight?!" His voice goes to a deadly tone as he puts up a fist. On his temple you can faintly see a pulsing vein, his entire expression clearly gets across the idea of 'Do not mess with me.' "Don't think I'm the kind of guy that would hold back just because you're a girl!" You shrink at his outcry, truly intimidated by his entire presence. Ah, this must be the ability of the Ultimate Yakuza; you didn't think you'd be so easily affected by it. 

        "S, sorry!!" you stutter, putting up a hand defensively. "I, I was just thinking, that um, that you..." you lower your voice a bit, "that you don't have to put up a front like that." You probably could've stopped yourself from saying something like that, something that could possibly change the future, but you were under the pressure of the Super High School Level Yakuza. Even though you knew that he doesn't really have much power inside this digital world- and also outside in the world filled with despair- you couldn't help but feel the need to stay on his good side. His face relaxes a bit, lowering his fist. 

        "'A front?' That's right, you're the Ultimate Seer, aren't you?" He crosses his arms and frowns. "I guess there's no real escape from your ability, huh?" He sighs and looks away from you. He seems relieved but also pained. "I'm sure you know enough. I'm doing it for her, so don't try to get in my way." His expression softens. His voice softens as well, becoming quieter towards the end of his sentence. You follow his line of sight to the hotel lobby room. If you remember correctly, in the game that's where Peko Pekoyama had been when Hinata came around. Looking back at him, you notice a blush had blossomed on his cheeks. He looks back at you and raises a fist. "I said, 'Don't get in my way,' got it?!" You jump at his voice, nodding and muttering apologies. He lets out a huff, seeming condescending at first then curling into a small smile. He walks away  to continue investigating the area. You stare for a little while before returning your attention to the problem at hand. 

        You sigh and recount all the cottages again. Just in case. Sixteen. Your heart beats faster, but you try your best to keep it level. Okay, first thing you need to do is find a way to add another cottage. You look back at the layout of the hotel. There's the main walkway which branches left to four pairs of rooms, right to four more pairs of rooms, and then continues straight for the hotel lobby. Looking at it, it wouldn't make architectural sense to add another cottage, at least not without having to add another to make it symmetrical. You start to pace, partially out of anxiousness, but also because you looked a bit odd just standing there. At the very least, you should get some help. You look over to the hotel lobby, maybe Nanami could help. Can she? She doesn't have any actual abilities that would be able to help you directly, but she can communicate with Usami. You think about the fifth trial, and the evidence that Nanami helped Usami write and draw a diary. She must have had a convenient way to meet up with Usami secretively and regularly in order to do something like that, right? Therefore, you would be able to go to her for help, right? With a lighter attitude, you make your way to the hotel lobby. However, your eyes begin to trail to the wooden lodge right next to it. That's... the building that Byakuya Togami will be killed in. A cold feeling creeps up to your neck as you stopped mid-step. Ah. That's no way to think about this. You still don't know for sure that this is indeed the killing game version; you can't say that he'll die in there 100%. You take a deep breath, and head towards the building. You notice Koizumi off to the side inspecting the small flower bed outside the lobby. You shake your head and revert your attention back to the wooden lodge. Don't get distracted. If nothing else, you need a place to be alone. 

        "Ah, you can’t go in there!" You jump as a figure manifested itself directly in front of you, almost making you trip. Once again, Usami's sudden appearances never fail to catch you off guard. "The old lodge is scheduled for reconstruction, so entry is forbidden!" Her voice fluctuates with childlike mannerisms, and every movement of her body let out cutesy plush sound effects. All of it made you want to hug and snuggle her but also hurl and cringe at how over the top it was. Just as she finished her warning, she readied herself to disappear. 

        "Hey! Wait, Usami!" You reach out to her before she raises her wand. She halts, tilting her head and raising a paw to her mouth cutely. 

        "Hm? What is it [lastname] dear?" she asks. Knowing that Koizumi could easily hear you nearby, you choose your words carefully. "Do you need something?"

        "Um," you start, "I just really want to check out the lodge, there may be something useful in there." Usami puffs her cheeks. 

        "It's just too dangerous!"

        "Oh come on!" you insist. "I have a feeling that it's really not all that dangerous in there." You put a hand on your hip as if you were coaxing a small child to stop whining. "Besides," you continue, "I'm the Ultimate Seer." Suddenly Usami puts on a blank face, standing straight as if she were a puppet. There's an uneasy pause where Usami stares motionless. "Um," you continue, "what I mean is, um, because I'm the Ultimate Seer, I can tell when something dangerous is near, so um." There is a short moment of silence before Usami returns to her bubbly self again. 

        "Very well! I trust my students whole heartedly!" Your face lights up. This means you could sort out your thoughts and plans alone. "But!" she starts, putting up a paw, "I'll be going with you! Just in case, okay?" You smile in defeat; at least you won't be around the rest of the students, right? Besides, this is definitely better. Now you can talk to Usami about your current situation and see if she can help you. "Alright! Let's go~!" Cute stars seem to bounce off her expression as she spins around to lead you into the lodge. Her paw is raised and holds her wand as if she were lighting the way with it. You sigh, somewhat struck by the overwhelming cuteness. 

        The doors open and close with loud creeks. Before entering the lodge, you thought you'd be greeted with the same layout and design that it had in the game with a dusty but not really dirty interior. Inside, the lodge does not look completely dissimilar to a haunted house. Despite the polished and refurnished look on the outside, the rooms are built out of dark crooked wood that seemed to have been there for ages, covered in cracks, mold, and probably a disease of some sort. Clean and flawless windows from the outside look more than shattered in here, and the furniture looks neither antique nor in any form of good quality. The air also feels thick with dust and cobwebs. There's an eerie feeling from it all. You cough. 

        "Ah!" Usami reacts. "Are you alright? Awh, maybe I really shouldn't have brought you here after all..." She lowers her head, tears reaching the edge of her toy-like eyes. You quickly reject. 

        "No! It's okay! I asked to be here," you reason. "And Usami, I'm really thankful that you trusted me enough to bring me here." ,Doing your best to cheer her up, you offer a soft smile. She perks up immediately, as expected. 

        "I'm glad! Well, I'll let you to explore, I'm here to protect you!" she smiles. "Let me know if you have any questions." You guess you should be more shocked after entering something so suddenly different than you expected, but right now you're just happy to be out of the public eye. Although, why is the lodge like this? It wasn't anywhere like this when everyone entered it the first time around in the game. Could it be that this 3D layout was ripped from a horror game or something?

        "Did someone end up cutting corners on the Neo World Project?" you accidentally say out loud. You panic for a second, quickly scanning the area for prying ears, and then relax knowing only you and Usami are here. She waves her paws, quickly denying. 

        "No, no! They weren't cutting corners!" You suppose they couldn't have, right? This program is so advanced and detailed there are insects in the farm for Saionji to squish. "Huh? Wait, I guess it would be considered cutting corners here..." What? Okay, never mind I guess. Usami raises a hand like a teacher bringing up a point that wold be important to the test. "This area model was taken from a PG horror video game," she explains. "I've been working on improvements since before everyone arrived. What do you think?" She puts her paws on her hips and puffs her chest. "It looks a lot better, right~?" You look around. It looks pretty horrifying to you. Usami sees your unimpressed face and reacts, putting her paws up defensively. "Huwah!! Just trust me! It was a lot worse before!" Then she stops, tilting her head to the side. "Wait a second, how do you know about the Neo World Project?" Your heart beats faster; there's no reason to keep a secret with her, right?

        "Well it's because..." You pause as you try to form your words. "It's because I'm not one of the Remnants of Despair."

        "Eh? Really??" Usami puts on a shocked face, an expression that looks comically fake. "Oh wait, I knew that," she says as she giggles. "My programming says I'm unable to bring up the Neo World Program to the subjects! If you were one of the remnants I couldn't possibly have answered you." She tilts her head to the side. "Hm? Does that mean you're another teacher's assistant?" You sigh, not exactly excited to answer. 

        "No, I'm not like Chiaki Nanami, and I'm not a member of Future Foundation either," you answer. Usami's face returns to that comically shocked expression. 

        "Eh?? Then who are you?? A virus???" She starts meekly waving her paw and wand haphazardly. "Virus begone! Please!!" Her motions are not dissimilar to when two children get in a fight, slapping each other repeatedly while at the same time facing away trying not to be hit. It's kinda funny. 

        "No, Usami, I don't think I'm a virus," you start, "but I do think there is a virus that you need to be careful of." You're thinking of Junko Enoshima. 

        "How do you know about a virus?" She says as she stopped slapping you. "You're not a student, right? Doesn't that mean you're not actually the Ultimate Seer? That means you wouldn't really know what happens next, right?" Her tone, along with the eeriness of the old lodge, made her seem threatening in a way you've never seen her like in-game. A cold feeling creeps up your spine. 

        "That, that's right," you confirm. "I've never really been a student of Hope's Peak Academy, and so I don't really have a Super High School Level ability." You clear your throat. How much of the truth can you tell? You've gone this far, should you continue by saying you're not from this universe? Or even far enough to say that you've seen how this game plays out? Maybe you shouldn't. "And..." No, you don't want to become like those super hero protagonists. The characters who kept their secret from everyone, even people who could help them, and end up creating more trouble than there needed to be. You're going to he smarter than that. You gather your confidence and continue, "And I know about it because I'm from another universe where this universe is a video game franchise." Ah. As confidently as you said that, it still sounded incredibly outlandish and stupid. Maybe even outlandishly stupid. Usami is expressionless. And speechless. A cold silence engulfs you. "Um, please respond," you beg. Usami giggles resting her paws on her tummy. 

        "Teeheehee! I don't know why you just said something like that," she starts, "but there's no need to worry about anything! This is a tropical paradise! Just focus on gathering Hope Shards as my precious student, okidokie?" Huh? Was what you said really that weird?

        "Wait okay," you say, waving your hands. "I should probably clarify: Your universe is a video game franchise where each game features super high school students participating in a killing game." Maybe this time you said it too bluntly. Usami's expression becomes shocked again as she her paws onto her cheeks. 

        "Huwah!! Really?? Who would want to play something like that?!" Her expression relaxes as she looks off to the side. Her paws hide behind her back as if she were a child caught doing something she shouldn't have. "Well..." her voice trails off, "there's no need to worry about something like that... just focus on.. collecting Hope Shards..." You suddenly feel bad for bringing this up. 

        "Um! Hey! It's not like I know for sure that it's going to play out like that!" You should probably change the subject. You really don't enjoy putting Usami through this. "Do you know about a way to contact Future Foundation while I'm here?" Usami's attitude lightens a bit as she tilts her head. 

        "Hm.. I'm pretty sure that they can see everything through the cameras!" She points to a rusted yellow camera in the corner of the dusty lodge. "I don't know if they are constantly monitoring the footage, but I'm sure if you really needed something they could hear you!" You're relieved, hopefully you can warn them about things accordingly. "Any other questions?" You nod while resting a hand on your chin in thought. 

        "Yeah, I've been thinking actually," you start, "are we speaking Japanese right now?" This thought had been resting in the back of your head, but you figured no, right? Not only are you speaking English to them, but you also hear the English voice actors of these people. Despite this, they all tend to follow Japanese mannerisms such as calling each other by last names. 

        "Um, yeah? What else would we be speaking?" She giggles, and then she gasps with a curious paw to her mouth. "Could it be? That you're hearing us speak something else??" 

        "Uhm," you hesitate, kind of taken aback by her response, "yeah, but don't think about it too much, haha..." You should probably keep this in mind when talking to the others, so not to accidentally call them by their first name and such. Usami huffs, crossing her arms. She probably wanted to know more about what you're hearing. "Thanks Usami, I really appreciate you telling me all this." You smile. Her mood lightens up, happy at her student's appreciation. Ah, you should probably bring up that important point now, before you forget. "Oh and Usami?" 

        "Hm?"

        "Where am I supposed to sleep? I know I wasn't planned or anything, but there are only sixteen cottages." Usami is slow to react, but her paws slam onto the sides of her face again. 

        "Ah!! Really?? Oh no!!" Her exclamations are cute, but at this point they're becoming a bit annoying. "I'm so sorry, I'll whip up a cottage for you as soon as possible! You wouldn't want to sleep with someone, now would you?" She giggles. And then stops, realizing something. "Ah! And if you do want to! Please don't!" she says hastily, "I don't want my students doing such naughty things here!" You blush; geez, as if something like that could even happen (no matter how much you want it to). Wait, no!! Get your mind out the gutter! You're all high schoolers! You wave away the thought, changing the subject. 

        "A, anyway! I'm glad you're helping me like this, Usami." You think for a second. "Although," you start, "isn't it a bit architecturally odd to add another cottage? It won't be symmetrical anymore." Usami thinks for a second, and then shrugs. 

        "Who cares? It's not like it's a bad thing to be different!" She smiles, raising a paw. "Embrace who you are! Don't let differences block your progress!" She giggles. "Although if you're really worried about something like that, I could add another cottage on the other side to even it out!" 

        "Tha, thank you," you say, unsure if that really solved the situation. "Thanks for everything, Usami. I truly appreciate it." Your statement is genuine, and you think about how cruelly the other students treated her along with her execution with Nanami. Usami strikes a pose causing a plush sound effect in the process. 

        "No problem-o!" She affirms. You smile. Her energy really is refreshing. "I'll let you explore now. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask! I'll be here cleaning up the lodge!" She raises her wand, sparkles bouncing off of it. You nod and make your way deeper into the decrepit building.

        If there's anything you want to take from inspecting this area, it's that you're glad that it's not dark in here. You brush dust off of a chair and sit down to gather your thoughts. You need to plan out what you're going to do. If this were the Island mode of the game then you could just relax with charming characters in a tropical vacation. However, you need to prepare in case that symbol of despair really does show up. Maybe you'll bring a weapon with you, so you can charge at him when he pops up. A knife from the kitchen, maybe? Wait, no that'd be too suspicious if you were so ready to take him down like that. If you get overpowered, the others will question why you had a weapon on you. Although would they? You could use the excuse that the spirits warned you about it. Your knee starts bouncing rapidly, and you bring a hand to your chin as you think. You should do your best to prevent the murders, especially the pointless ones like the one with Pekoyama and Koizumi. Wait no, if those situations never happen there'd be no character development for the other students. Character development? Your heart pangs. Thinking more about something like 'character development' even though people's lives are at risk? No, in the end they're not really at risk, right? This is all a virtual reality; everyone survives in the end, so is letting the killings happen okay? Without the tragedies they've endured Hinata and the others wouldn't have been able to disregard hope and despair to build their future instead. You cross your legs and shift your weight. So is this okay? Allowing the killing game play out so the survivors can build their resolve as the story goes? You can't help but feel uneasy. It's definitely not as simple as this, your addition to the group is bound to change things. You need to be careful of your actions, there will probably be situations where you'll be considered the suspect during class trials. You need to have an alibi, and you need to remember how each trial played out. You stand up. This is exhausting. You're preparing for the worst, but a part of you is still hoping that you're in the Island Mode and won't have to worry about all this. You pat the dust off yourself and make your way out the lodge. First thing's first, get a weapon just in case the bear really does show up. You make your way to the exit of the lodge. 

        "Sorry, you can’t go in there! The old lodge is scheduled for reconstruction, so entry is forbidden!" You hear the voice of Usami on the other side of the door, but you had already made your exit. On the other side you're greeted by Usami, Hinata, and Komaeda, all of whom are stunned at your entrance. There's an uneasy silence. The two boys look at you and then to Usami. Hinata looks at Usami in a sort of 'You're kidding, right?' expression. You smile helplessly. Whoops. Your heart picks up its pace; this is going to make you seem suspicious, isn't it. Komaeda takes a breath to speak. "[Lastname] is an exception!!" Usami declares in response to Hinata's glare. "She's a seer so!" She pauses. "She's more able to look after herself." Her voice sort of trails off, unsure of her statement. Hinata's glare doesn't lighten much. You wave a hand. 

        "Don't worry you guys." You smile. "I've already scouted the entire lodge, there's nothing in there that would help us right now." You're lying of course. You looked into two, maybe three, rooms before your remembered that it doesn't matter anyway. 

        "Did you do what you wanted to do?" Komaeda asks. Huh? Oh that's right, before you abandoned the two of them, you stupidly said that you needed to do something. "You said you needed to see someone, right?" He puts a hand to his chin, as if he were quizzing you. 

        "Uh, uh yeah," you hesitate. There's no need to lie, right? "I just wanted to ask Usami some questions." The two of them seemed satisfied enough with the answers given. "So! You guys are going into the lobby next, right?" If they're going into the lobby, afterwards they're going to go into the hotel restaurant, and then maybe you can sneak into the kitchen to take a weapon. 

        "Yeah, how'd you know?" Hinata asks. You smile coyly and prepare to speak. 

        "She's the Super High School Level Seer after all," Komaeda says instead. He looks at you and smiles. "Anyway," he continues, "let's get going." The three of you head into the hotel lobby, and Komaeda remarks how classy it is. You and Hinata, however, take in the fact that it's completely void of staff. You shouldn't be shaken by this fact. It's something that's a constant throughout the game. Although, it really does feel different when you're there in person, almost like you're breaking and entering. 

        Inside, Hinata, Komaeda, and you go through the introductions of Pekoyama and Nanami, both of whom happen to be intensely pretty and make you feel the need to hide your face. That's not abnormal, right? Feeling shy and almost shameful around people who are probably infinitely more impressive than you? Or maybe you're shy in meeting people that you idolized as characters. Needless to say, you tended to keep quiet during the introductions. To a degree, you feel a bit guilty because you are living a situation that millions of die hard fans would jump to participate in, but you're not experiencing it to its full potential. Hinata seems to notice your silence. The three of you are going upstairs to the restaurant when he speaks up. 

        "Why are you suddenly so quiet, [lastname]?" You blush, knowing that the reason is really stupid. Should you say it? Not saying anything would be kind of suspicious, right? Komaeda turns his head to listen as well. 

        "Ah, it, it's just," you hesitate, embarrassed. "Just that, Pekoyama and Nanami are so pretty, and, um," god saying this out loud really is a struggle, "and, you know, I guess I'm just embarrassed. Ahaha!" You force the laugh; it's a little too loud. Hinata offers a curious smile before the three of you reached the end of the stairs. 

        "This looks like," Hinata starts, looking around, "the hotel restaurant."

        "It's large enough to hold a banquet," Komaeda says. "It has a sense of space that you can only get in southern countries." You're impressed at Komaeda's trivia. You don't remember every line of dialogue in the game, but this one definitely foreshadows the fact that this program was based off of Jabberwock island which was a southern island. You speak up. 

        "Do you think that this means we're in a southern island?" Komaeda shrugs. 

        "Haha sorry, that was more of an analogy. I don't think the layout of a restaurant really determines where you are." Komaeda responds, laughing. "Anyway, let's get on with introductions. Look," he says, pointing to the other side of the room, "there are two people talking over there." The two people in the restaurant; that was Teruteru Hanamura and Sonia Nevermind, right? You blush, remembering next scene. 

        "That's right, it's terrible if it get's swollen by poison," says Hanamura, the ultimate pervert. "That's why you must suck it with your mouth as soon as possible." Your face reflexively scrunches up; you want to gag. 

        "Poison? I see," Nevermind mumbles cluelessly. In that moment you're struck at her magnificent beauty. She really has an otherworldly beauty that could only be attained in fiction, and yet you're seeing it with your own eyes. You're blushing like before with Nanami and Pekoyama, but with her it feels like you could actually melt from the heat of your own cheeks. 

        "H, hey," Hinata says, intervening. "Do you have a second?" Hanamura sighs, putting on a disappointed expression and looks off to the side. 

        "Just as I was getting so close," he says while moving to comb his pompadour. Nevermind turns her attention to us, putting on a gentle smile. 

        "Good day." Her voice is just as you recognize from the English dub, but the elegance and fluctuations in her speech makes you want to bow. Nevermind and Hanamura start exchanging introductions with Hinata, using the dialogue as you remember from the game. Hinata says this, and then Hanamura says this, and then Komaeda says this... You're zoning out. Then suddenly you have your attention sharply redirected to Hanamura when you overhear his private conversation with Hinata.  

        "What do you think? In all likelihood it's a black thong. I'd like to hear your opinion." His eyes are sparkling as the most disgusting trickle of blood comes from his nose. "This is a matter of serious discussion. Go ahead, you may begin." Ugh. You decide to leave, no one seems to question your action. 

        You head into the kitchen. In the game you never got to see it, but it's nothing too remarkable. It's about half as big as the kitchen seen in the first Danganrona game, and it's actually quite similar to the kitchen in the old lodge too. Everything is a shiny chrome, and inside every cabinet and drawer are cooking materials from cutting boards to whisks to things you definitely don't know the name of. It doesn't take you long to find a knife; in fact you find about 15 knives. You take a small one. It's thin and the blade is no longer than the length of your hand. How do you hide this? Obviously you can't just carry this around in your hand, but your pockets aren't big enough. An idea crosses your mind. No, that'd definitely be too uncomfortable, right? You sigh as you move to try it out. While holding the knife your hands crawl up your back, making sure not to poke yourself. You reach your bra, and gently slip the knife between the clips and your back. You shiver at the cool metal against your skin. Facing down, the knife is held up by the hilt thanks to the elasticity of your bra. Because of the knife's thinness, it doesn't weigh your undergarment down at all, and after the chilled metal levels temperature with your body, you barely feel its presence. You're worried that sudden movements will have the knife cutting at your skin, but you push the thought to the back of your mind. It's not like anything like that is going to happen, right? Satisfied, you head back to the others. 

        "Hey there you are," Komaeda says, smiling. "We were just leaving; where'd you go?" 

        "Just checking out the kitchen," you respond. "Where are we going to next?"

        "Ohohoh? Leaving so soon?" Hanamura questions with a disappointed face. "Wouldn't a dazzling beauty like you want to familiarize yourself with me?" You're flattered at his comment, but disgusted at the rest of his sentence. Komaeda opens his mouth to warn him, but you beat him to it. 

        "Ahaha, so much as touch me, and I'll reveal all your secrets, Mama's Boy," you say with a manufactured smile. Hanamura winces but doesn't lose face. Hinata clears his throat. 

        "Um, we're just gonna keep going to east, I think there's a farm next door." With that, the three of you leave the area. 

 

        In Usami Corral, you watch as the scene where Usami turns a chicken into a cow unfolds. Pink ribbons of light shoot to the chicken from her wand. The lights and sparkles of the transformation made you squint your eyes. Synthetic sound effects radiate off the creature as a cow appears in place of the chicken. Hinata's reaction is not unreasonable, yelling in disbelief. 

        "Whaa?? Wh, what was, did you just-?!" He visibly puts on his guard, as if he were afraid that he too would spontaneously become a cow. 

        "No, I think it was just smoke and mirrors, or some other kind of illusion," Komaeda reasons holding up a finger. "She probably had it prepared in advance. I think it's her way of trying to make us happy. Looks like it had the opposite affect on you though." Hinata seems to calm down a bit. You giggle. 

        "Who knows?" you counter, "maybe it really is magic!" Komaeda sighs at your comment. Hinata goes to inspect the cow, touching it, trying to gauge if it really was just a trick. He seems unsatisfied, but unwilling to consider the idea anymore. After that, they introduced themselves to Akane Owari, who also asked for your and Komaeda's names again. 

        "I'm kinda useless with names. Never got the hang of 'em," she says, "and there's a lot to remember." Honestly? You feel the same; names are hard to remember. Thankfully for you you've already memorized everyone first and last names, as well as some pointless trivia about them. 

        "I'm Nagito Komaeda," he repeats. "Please try to remember me from now on, if possible." He smiles but he's clearly upset at her memory. You follow his example. 

        "And I'm [name] [lastname], but I don't mind if the name slips from your memory," you say. "I think remembering my face is more important, right?" Hinata and Komaeda continue their dialogue with Owari with Komaeda relaying some information he gained from the web. You move along, approaching Saionji who's squishing ants. She's squatting on the grass, holding her knees together as she counts to a rhythm. 

        "One! Two! Three! Four! One! Two..." she chants, pressing her finger into the ground. You kneel down. 

        "Doesn't your finger get gross with ant guts after a while?" Saionji raises her head. At first you thought she was going to snap at you, spitting profanities and insults, but she's got a grin on her face. 

        "Oh hey it's you, Big Sis!" This is quite the tonal change from your last encounter with her. Not to mention she called you 'Big Sis' as apposed to 'ugly idiot.' "Sorry about my attitude earlier!" she apologizes. She puts on a pitiful face, pouting and letting tears brim in her eyes. "I was just so on edge about everything, you know. Are you gonna forgive me? You're gonna forgive me, right?" You, at a loss for words, only nod in response. Saionji's expression reverts back, smiling childishly. "Great! Don't forget to get me my gummy bears later!" 

 

        The three of you found your way across the bridge and into Jabberwock Park on the main island. Hinata followed with some reluctance, but you were able to relax him enough to come along by saying that he should trust you because of your ability. The park is beautiful in a way that makes you think that if its beauty were to manifest into a level of power it could demolish you. The blue skies and cool breeze compliment the greenery and the sun's warmth; florals and clouds sway in perfect patterns for a scenic beauty. And in the center is the stunning main attraction: a statue that represents the island, a warrior on a horse surrounded by a snake and and a hawk. 

        "Wow! That's one magnificent statue, isn't it?" Komaeda says, probably more to cheer up Hinata than anything else. He's smiling and raising his hands in excitement. You smile too. 

        "It's neat, right?" you add. "The way that it's structured, it kind of makes me want to climb it." It's a random comment, but it's true. You're not Owari or anything, and you wouldn't say that you're exactly known for wanting to climb everything, but the way the animals intertwine with each other seem to make just the right curves for stair/ladder/statue combination. The boys give you an odd look. Maybe you should've kept that one in your head. Hinata looks back at it. 

        "Well, don't you think it looks a bit creepy?" Hinata furrows a brow. You look back at the statue and tilt your head. 

        "Is it?" Komaeda questions. "I think it's kind of cool. Packs quite the punch, doesn't it?" He looks back at Hinata and offers a smile. "I'm sure it's a symbol of the island or something. Hey [lastname]! You should try to climb it, maybe you can see something interesting up there." The blade pressing against your back tingles as you quickly shake your head in response. Hinata murmurs something under his breath as Komaeda starts leading us to the other person in the park. The Ultimate Imposter. You hadn't noticed, but he had been staring at you since you entered the park. Approaching him, he was the first to speak up. 

        "What do you want." He says it like a statement more than a question. Standing in front of him, he looks away from you. Hinata and Togami exchange introductions, and immediately ushered them away afterwards. Hinata and Komaeda move off to the side, holding their own conversation. You begin to follow them, but Togami calls to you. "You stay. I need to talk to you." 

        "Huh? What is it?" you ask, eager to return to the protagonist and Komaeda. "Oh wait," you remember, "you're worried about my info, right?" Togami opens his mouth to retaliate, but then closes it, crossing his arms. 

        "That's right," he confirms. "I wanted to let you know that,-"

        "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret," you interrupt. "It's not my place to tell, and honestly it's not an issue anyway." His identity doesn't play a role in the overall plot of the game, only existing as a quick 'oh what a twist!' reveal in the fifth chapter. The impostor sighs. 

        "Actually, before you interrupted me, what I was going to say was-" He's once again interrupted, but this time it's not by a person. A loud chime - similar to what would usually precede a school announcement - echoes throughout the islands as the yellow monitor nearby buzzes to life. The monitor's screen quality is spotty at best. The image has a green tint, and you can clearly see the horizontal neon lines that would normally be seen in television systems from the early 90s. 

        "Congratulations everyone!" exclaims the Usami on screen. "It looks like everyone was able to gather their very first set of Hope Shards!" She giggles, "Ohoho, this makes me so very happy! And so, I've prepared a special present so you can be happy too! I'm sorry for the trouble, but please gather back up on the beach." She throws her paws up and giggles. "Let's make our hope shine together!" And then the monitor shuts off. You turn to talk to Togami, but he had already left. You look over to Hinata and Komaeda who are just about to leave. 

        "Hey! Wait up!" you call, jogging over to them. "She said to the beach, right? Let's go."

 

        You three were the last to arrive at the beach, and it may or may not have been because you asked to make a detour to the super market to get gummy bears for Saionji. Hey, better do it now than forget, right? After being scolded by Togami for being late, everyone starting talking about what they had found. They made their points quickly, almost overlapping each other. In the game, conversations and statements were separated by a 'Next' button; here, teenagers are just as disorganized and hectic to make their points as in real life. When it came to you, you quickly stated that you went into the old lodge and found nothing of interest. At the end of it Togami spoke up, calling everyone an idiot for not finding anything important. 

        "Did none of you cross the bridge and visit the park on the central island?" Togami asks. Most of the other students look at each other, mumbling and shaking heads. Hinata speaks up. 

        "Are you talking about the part with that excessive statue," he pauses for a moment, "the one with all the creepy animals?" His face shows concern, in a way that assumes the impostor's question declares something to be worried about. You place a hand on his arm and give a confident look. "Hinata, worrying won't do anything here."

        "When I saw it," Togami continues, "I recalled something I heard a while ago." He pushes up his glasses and looks down in thought. "Among the islands of the Pacific Ocean, there is one famous for its scenic beauty. Its everlasting summer makes it a sort of paradise." He looks off to the beach. "It's not actually one island, but a group of five closely encircling a small central one. Those islands are represented by five sacred animals. The name of this island is," he looks up at you and the rest of the students, "Jabberwock Island." Everyone begins murmuring amongst each other, wondering if that's the island they happen to be on. Some questioning the relevance and others questioning validity. You, on the other hand, are incredibly unimpressed. Not only do you already sort of know about it because of the game, but the sign pointing to the park on the central island had read 'Jabberwock Park.' Hinata puts on a cautious expression, furrowing his brow. "If this is indeed Jabberwock island, there is something that worries me," Togami continues, pushing his glasses up again. "According to what I heard, Jabberwock Island is already..." He stops. It's already destroyed. You know this. You want to give an explanation to him, but you really can't. Can you? "No, never mind." The impostor sighs and crosses his arms. Nidai steps up, putting his hands on his hips. 

        "Wait, you can't just stop in the middle like that," he says. Togami scoffs. 

        "Don't complain," he retorts, "After I investigate some more and confirm my thoughts, I'll tell you everything I know." You decide to speak up. 

        "Hey Togami." He turns his head to you; everyone else does too, tuning their ears for whatever the seer has to say. "Um," you hesitate, a bit shy at all the attention. "Listen, there's nothing to worry about, okay? Nothing about this island, nothing about about that rabbit," you say referring to Usami. "At least that's what the spirits are telling me." 

        "Yeah, who even cares what this island is called?" Owari says carelessly, picking away at something in her ear. "We're all gonna be living here for a while anyway, right?" From her comment it seemed as if all the tension disappeared, bringing a calmer atmosphere among everyone as people's excitement start overlapping each other. You pick out a few voices, the louder and more eager ones. 

        "Living together on a southern island sounds so exciting!" Mioda cheers, swaying in her enthusiasm. "Ibuki's super looking forward to that!" Conversations shift from the exciting possibilities on the island to possible ways to escape the island. You already know everything's impossible. When Hinata mentioned maybe building a raft to escape the island, Usami pops up exclaiming that polluting the ocean is strictly forbidden. You watch as the scene continues. After a bit of dialogue Usami reveals that the gift she mentioned on the broadcast. "Love love! Here they are!" she says, opening her closed paws to unveil seventeen little plastic keychains designed after herself. "Don't rush! There's enough for everyone!" She cheerfully assures, going around to place the toy in each of the student's palms. There's a silence as everyone stares at the ornament in their palm. You start to feel around it. The chain made of is metal, of course, and it's the type that resembles little spheres connected by little rods. Although mostly plastic, there is a spot in the center made of rubber. It's softer, and if you press it-

        "My name is Usami!" the toy speaks. "Magical Girl Miracle Usami!! I'm a tiny sweet milky girl!" Everyone's heads turned at the sound of the electric introduction. Expressionless, everyone continues to be silent. You don't want to admit it, but you find this stupid toy to be so cute and something you'd buy in a heartbeat back in your universe. 

        "What." Komaeda was the first to speak. A smile plastered on his face, it almost seemed like he was broken. 

        "Teehee! It's my Usami Charms!" she announces. "Aren't they cute? I recorded that audio myself~!" She giggles, and puts her paws together as if she's content with her accomplishments. Everyone hesitates to react, everyone except for Togami that is. 

        "They're worthless," he declares bluntly. 

        "Aw, Ibuki expected something good..." Mioda complains, picking at the plastic and sighing. Other students join in on the disappointment, uttering their opinions. It seems everyone except you and Nanami think negatively of them. 

        "I think they're surprisingly cute," Nanami says, tilting her head and holding the charm in front of her face. "Especially how the ears look like rabbit ears." You giggle. 

        "I think that's because Usami is a rabbit." You hold the charm from the chain and pout. "I can't believe you guys don't think it's even a little cute," you say, trying to lighten the mood. "Sure it's useless, but it could be a sweet little memento for when we come out, I mean, get off  the island." (Whoops, you almost said 'come out of the program.') You close your fist around the charm and smile. "You know, and talk about that crazy time we found ourselves on a deserted island with a robotic bunny." You laugh and realize that other students start to agree. 

        "Hey you know what, you're right!" Souda says, dangling the keychain from a finger. "It's cute, and with that voice box, I wonder wonder what'll happen if I take it apart!" His eyes start to sparkle. It wasn't quite the response you were expecting, but at least it's positive. 

        "Indeed!" Nevermind agrees, smiling. "I find the wings to be quite charming."

        "I've got the perfect place on my camera to put this!" Koizumi adds, already trying to clip it on. "Haha, I just hope it doesn't get in front of the lens."

        "Well, if it's like that..." starts Komaeda, rethinking his previous disappointment, "then maybe I wouldn't mind keeping something like this." He holds the charm by the chain hanging from his pants, the one with a skull ornament. Is he going to replace the accessory? You smile. Even with just a few words, you were able to shift the future, if at least just a little bit. 

        "It may not be good," Mioda starts, throwing the ornament in the air and catching it, "but Ibuki isn't gonna be left out!" She continues by clipping and unclipping the mini Usami to various strange places. First her hair, then her piercings, then her bracelets, and then finally the hem of her shirt. Her movements are exaggerated, as if showing off the crazy and fun ways to use the charm. 

        "Jeez I really don't know where to keep this," Owari complains, fiddling with the toy in her fingers. "Oh well, I'll figure it out later," she decides, shoving the Usami charm down her cleavage. Nearby, Hanamura's eyes pop out of his sockets. 

        "Hmph." The imposter quietly moves to slip the keychain into his pocket. In the end, everyone accepted the Usami charm without discarding them on the ground. Some had stored them away while others already clipped them onto themselves. You follow the ladder, attaching the keychain to the belt hoop from the hem of your bottoms. 

        "Teehee! I'm so happy you like them!!" Usami cheers, putting her paws together in content. "I've also prepared another present! It's not such a big deal compared to the Usami charms, but lookie here!" She retrieves two swimming bags. 

        "Swimming suits! Right?" You say, urging the scene to move faster. You lose your joy, only offering a manufactured smile. 

        "Bingo! Love love!" Usami praises.  Souda puts his hand by his mouth, trying to hide his excitement. 

        "Wha! That means!" He's so excited he can't finish sentences. 

        "That's right!" she answers. "I prepared swimsuits for each of you! They're school swimsuits, but please put up with them." Hinata reacts defensively, but everyone else is excited for the development. You would be too, but the further the scene progresses the more on guard you need to be. Your throat feels dry. Most of the students chatter about their eagerness to swim or play (or kill crab demons) and run off to the hotel to change leaving Hinata, Nanami, Kuzuryu, Togami, Owari, Saionji, and yourself. Hinata looks over to you. 

        "Are they seriously going to go swimming in this situation?" His worry isn't unfounded, but you don't want him to be any more paranoid. You should say something to calm him down, but can you really? When your face is full of fear right now. 

        "Well, it's not like there's anything immediately dangerous right now," you say, trying to reason. Your neck feels hot. "They're just having a good time." You offer a smile. Hinata looks off to the side. 

        "[Lastname], I'm not sure if I completely trust your 'spirits' and everything." He looks into your eyes. "But is there anything that could be dangerous right now?" You sweat. 

        "My statement from earlier still stands." You look to the sky. "Be wary of a black and white bear." Hinata follows your line of sight and looks back at you. He chuckles and then sighs. 

        "You really are strange, you know." He gives a defeated smile. "Well, what about you? Aren't you going to swim with the others?" Huh? Suddenly your back tingles with the feeling of the knife pressed against your spine. You shake your quickly head and change the subject. 

        "What about you, Kuzuryu? You're not gonna swim too?" you say, calling to the yakuza boy nearby. He scoffs. 

        "Swimming in the ocean is even more worthless than talking to you," he says coldly, crossing his arms and looking to the side. You're taken aback. 

        "Ag! So harsh!" you act, slamming a hand on your chest as you had been struck. "You're not even going to go in for her?" Emphasis on the 'her.' Hinata's ears perk up, but Kuzuryu doesn't even turn to look at you. 

        "Shut up if you know what's good for you." His tone is deadly. And you meekly smile as you wait for the scene to continue. 

        Everyone returns and plays out the cute beach scene with everyone having genuine smiles and fun. Dialogues dance around, bouncing from student to student.  You can feel yourself fading away from the excitement, away from everyone. Your heart beats faster. You can't join the fun, not yet at least. You can't help but feel disheartened when Hinata finally gets the resolve to participate. Because when he reaches for a swimsuit of his own, that's when the sun gets blocked out, and an ominous and familiar laugh rings throughout the island. You sigh, but everyone else is murmuring words of worry. The sky is crowded with clouds, the type that you would expect to see in stories that begin with 'It was a dark and stormy night.'

        "Eh? What?" Usami's voice quivers. "Wh, what's going on?? What is this????" Her arms are flailing in the air and she's pacing in a circle. "Wh, why... I didn't do anything, and yet! This shouldn't be possible! This kind of thing shouldn't happen!!" Your heart is racing like never before. It's faster than when you first arrived, faster than finding sixteen cottages. But this isn't a panic attack, you're calm. You're ready for this. It's okay. The monitor starts humming to life. The outline of a psychotic bear only barely visible on the screen. 

        "Ah, ah! Mic check, mic check!" calls the familiar grating voice of Greg Ayres. "Ah, ah, ah! Can you hear me? Can you hear mee?" He laughs. "Upupu, did you let me out? Did you let one out in surprise? You did, didn't you?! Well then, I've kept you waiting far too long. Let's end this boring opening act! Please gather to Jabberwock Park you bastards!" Everyone else is stunned in the moment, hesitating and unsure of what to do. No one seems to notice that you've already walked away, making your way to Jabberwock Park. You feel the knife on your back shift as you walk. Your heart is racing, but you're calm. You're calm. You're calm, right? You're the first to arrive at the park, followed by Usami and then the students that hadn't changed into swimming suits. Without the balance of the blue skies, warm sun, and puffy clouds, the balance of the park is thrown off, and it feels uneasy and broken. 

        "Where are you?! Where are you hiding?!" Usami calls, holding her wand defensively. You narrow your eyes at the statue. 

        "Wh, who's hiding?!" Hinata yells in confusion. "Who are you talking about?" You turn to him. 

        "Hinata, remember what I said about that bear?" He nods, but before you could continue a laugh interrupts you. 

        "Upupupupu!!"

        "Hey hey!! Where are you? Where??" Usami's waving her wand around randomly now. You reaffirm your offensive stance against the statue. Just as a few of the other students start to come in, the symbol of despair reveals himself. From behind the statue, he pops out, flying higher than the peak of and landing at the base. Sitting on the platform, you can see his shoulders bounce slightly, giggling to himself. His entrance is not especially dramatic, but it did catch the attention of everyone. There is a stunned silence. No one moves, no one except for you, who is slowly creeping a hand up your back to retrieve the knife. You don't know if the others noticed, and at this point you don't particularly care.

        "Have I kept you waiting? It's been a long time hasn't it?" He puts on a coy smile. "I'm Mono-"

        He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't finish his sentence because you sprinted towards him. He didn't finish his sentence because you sprinted towards him with a knife in hand. And you were beating and stabbing the shit out of Monokuma.


	5. That Ability of Yours

This feels good. You're not completely unconscious, but you're no where near consciousness either. Just this moment of limbo between reality and the sleeping world, it's almost as if you were having a lucid dream. Whatever you're laying on is very soft, very smooth, and very warm. There's also a distinct herb-like minty fragrance to it. Gentle fingers comb through your hair and pat your head.  Everything about this feels pleasant. What was going on again? Well, you guess it doesn't matter. All you want to do right now is press yourself deeper into this blissful feeling. 

  "How is she doing?" a muffled voice asks. Ah that voice seems familiar. In fact, you think it's the voice of someone you're fond of. You should probably wake up, right? 

  "She's fine. Look, she's even smiling." a more clear and feminine voice answers. This voice is familiar as well. Oh well, maybe you could stay like this for a bit longer. 

  "I wonder if we can really trust her," another voice muses. "None of us even noticed that she had a knife on her." A bit longer. You want to stay like this for a bit longer. Your sliver of consciousness starts to slip. Pleasant sensations continue to grace you as the voices fade away, all except for one. It echoes through your mind while everything else dissipates. 

  "I wonder if we can really trust her."

  "I wonder if we can really trust her."

  "I wonder if we can really trust her."

  "I wonder if they should trust me." The sentence accidentally slips through your lips. Just as it does, your eyes start peeking through its lids. The first thing you notice is how dark it's gotten. It's not nighttime, but the sun is low, letting a warm red haze blanket the sky. The second thing you notice is the very dark purple hair framing your vision. Its cut is jagged and uneven, yet it is combed neatly, smoothly falling in place. Finally, you notice the face of Mikan Tsumiki panicking as she's trying to get your attention. 

  "Ah! You, you're awake! Are you okay? Ho, how do you feel?" She hastily asks you questions as if saying them slower would put you back into a state of unconsciousness. She shifts to help you, and when she does you notice your surface shifts as well. You realize that you've been laying on her lap, and that she had been stroking your hair while you were passed out. That minty fragrance caresses your senses. You blush. You move to get up. 

  "Gn!" Your voice reflexively groans as a sharp stinging pain shoots through your side. Your hand massages your side as you sit up. Instead of feeling soft skin under cloth, you feel a layer of bandages between them. "Augh... wh, what..." you mutter, trying to recall something, anything. There's a pain in your head as well, but it doesnt really feel like a headache. "Wait!" You remember taking the offensive against Monokuma, pulling a knife on him. "What happened? Did I win? Did it work??" you interrogate, turning to face Tsumiki. 

  "I, I'm sorry!!" she cries, putting up her arms in defense. Tears leak from her eyes as she braces for impact. The sudden pressure must've startled her. You relax your posture a bit. 

  "Ah, I'm sorry," you apologize. "You're okay, you didn't do anything wrong." Tsumiki slowly puts down her arms, hesitantly resting them on her lap. "So, can you tell me what happened?" She takes in a deep breath and then breathes out slowly, trying to calm her nerves.

  "Um, how much do you remember?" she asks. You notice that she's actively keeping herself from talking too much. You shift your weight and move a strand of hair behind your ear. 

  "Hm, after I started running at Monokuma, everything kind of blacks out," you answer, putting a finger to your chin in thought. Actually, you also remember hearing some voices, but you can't be sure if that was a dream or not. 

  "Okay, well," Tsumiki starts, "after you charged at Monokuma, you sl, slashed and punched and kicked him a lot." She starts to tremble and clenches a fist. "It was..! Really intense! I was so scared and confused." You quickly reassure her, offering a calming look. "Everyone was r, really surprised at your sudden action; there were a lot of people yelling in confusion, I think." Tsumiki looks down, as if she needed your permission to look at you. You furrow your brow and make a face. "I, I'm Sorryy!!" 

  "Ah, it's okay!" you reflexively say. "I forgive you, but what are you sorry for?" She fumbles her fingers. 

  "Oh, um, no I just thought... You looked displeased!" She shuts her eyes and bites her lip. "I must have done something wrong again! It's okay! You can punish me!" You quickly wave you hands in protest. 

 "No, no there's no need for that!" You say. "It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong. I forgive you." You offer a hesitant smile and she mirrors your action. "Can you continue, please?"

  "In the, the end... You, you were able to dismantle Monokuma.... there, there was cotton stuffing everywhere..." Huh? So you were able to get rid of the virus? You were able to get rid of Junko Enoshima? You straighten your back and lean in disbelief. A giddy smile spreads across your face, and your eyes widen with expectation. 

  "A, are you serious?! I was really able t-"

  "I'm sorry!!" Tsumiki's arms move to defend herself; she's shaking. 

  "Oh, uh." You back off. You really need to be more careful with her, especially with her past and how things ended up playing out in the third trial. "Sorry, please keep going." Were you really able to stop the killing game like this?

  "Af, after that," she looks to the side and starts whimpering, "a, another Mono, Monokuma popped out from behind the statue, and..." She starts crying, pressing her hands into her eyes. "I'm sorry! I should've thrown myself in front of you!!" 

  "Ah! It's okay!" You move closer to her, trying to pat her on the back. She flinches at first and then relaxes a bit. "Thank you for thinking of me. Can you please continue?" She wipes away her tears with her wrist, and gives you a small smile. 

  "M, mhm," she confirms. "The other M, Monokuma showed up, and then made a gash in your side with his cla, claws..." Ah. That would explain the pain on the side. "And when you were recoiling from the impact, he shoved you. Your head collided with the corner of the statue, and you passed out." And that would explain the non-headache like pain pulsing on the back of your head. You hand goes to rub it, but you flinch as the pressure makes it more painful. Her eyes widen in worry. Tsumiki moves to stop you, putting her hands up. "I! I think it's just a bruise! And you passed out from the shock! Although, you might want to be careful if it happens to be a concussion... Usami tried to stop him, but as soon as you passed out, Monokuma started bullying Usami and," she paused, trying to find the right words. Her head tilts to the side and she furrows her brow. "Redesigned her? It was confusing, but I think she's called Monomi now." She pauses and looks down with an expression of horror on her face. "After that," she says with a trembling voice, "Monokuma told us to kill each other in some sort of 'Killing Game' and..." She fiddles with her fingers, unwilling to continue. "And, and, and he said that if we wanted to get off the island we'll have to kill someone! It's so terrible!"

  "This is..." you mutter, wondering if it's okay to say this, "this is exactly what I wanted to prevent." Tsumiki looks up at you, unsure if she heard you correctly. 

  "I don't un, understand it all that well, but Monokuma said that he put how the entire thing works onto our electronic student handbooks," she explains. Tears start brimming in her eyes again. "And wh, when we started to retaliate, Monokuma brought out these giant robot monsters!!" Ah that's right, the monobeasts. "Monokuma said that he'd make an example of you... so everyone would understand how serious he was..." Your eyes widen. He, he was going to execute you? He was going to end you immediately like Mukuro Ikusaba? A chill climbs up your spine. Goosebumps creep onto the surface of your skin. You... you could have died. You swallow dryly. "But then Monomi sa, sacrificed herself. She, she said that she'd do anything to pro, protect her students!" Tsumiki presses her hands into her eyes again. "I'm sorry! It should've been me instead!" That's enough. You take ahold of her hands. 

  "Please stop saying things like that!" She tries to pull away at first, maybe thinking that you were going to punish her. You hold on and look her in the eyes. "You're so much more precious than you think! Please, value yourself more!" At first it seemed like something within her sparked, like she finally found confidence within herself. And then she shriveled up, shaking in shame. 

  "I, I, I'm sorryy!!" She starts crying again. You release her hands, and she starts rubbing her eyes until they're puffy. 

  "It, it's okay," you hesitate. "It's okay, I forgive you." You start rubbing her back again. You think to yourself. You want to help Tsumiki. It's going to be more than a lot of work, and maybe it was part of her charm as a character. But seeing her here as a person in front of you, you want nothing more than to help her regain the self worth she lost growing up. During his free time events, Hinata was able to learn more about her, but it's hard to say if he actually helped her in the end. Even in Island Mode, Tsumiki never achieved mental stability, and instead just created a dependency on Hinata. You... you want to change that. "I forgive you. Thank you for telling me everything. Is there anything else?" 

  "..." She looks to the side. "..." There almost seems to be a glazed look in her eyes as if her mind was slipping away. "Nope! After that, everyone just split up!" Her tone immediately perks up while her hands come together, ending the subject completely. Did something happen? You hesitate, but go along with it. 

  "Well, alright then!" You move to stand up, but you wince and trip over yourself when the pain in your side shoots through your body. Mikan quickly moves to help you, letting you lean on her entirely. "Th, thank you," you mutter, embarrassed at your current state. A distinct herb-like fragrance graces your senses. She smiles and blushes; up close, you notice how cute it is when the edge of her eyes squint with the curl of her lips. You blush too. 

  "N, no problem! After all, you're weak right now." Tsumiki smiles and helps you stand upright. "You're weaker than me right now..." She smiles. Huh? Something seems different about this smile. 

 

 Walking with Mikan Tsumiki wasn't boring. In fact, it was something you'd probably have difficulty forgetting. At first you two talked about frivolous things, like the topic you remember her liking: her favorite kind of bandages. Although, the topics quickly changed to her life story. She didn't give names or even say anything bad about her assailants, but she talked about all the abuse she endured, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. But you already knew all that. You imagine the scars on her body as well as the ones in her mind. Your resolve to help Mikan Tsumiki strengthened. At this point, the two of you had made your way off the central island. 

  "Wh, what? You, you're gonna walk on your own?" Her voice trembles and she furrows her brow. The edges of her lips shrivel into a worried expression. It's almost as if she's afraid of leaving you alone, or maybe of you leaving her alone. You offer a calming smile with a hand gently holding your side. 

  "Don't worry, Mikan," you say. You notice a redness appear on her cheeks as you said her first name. "You, uh, thanks for letting me lean on you, but I think I can walk by myself." How long will it be until 10pm? "I wanna go see someone right now; I'll talk to you later, okay?" You start slowly walking away, keeping eye contact with Mikan. 

  "Tal, talk to me later..?" Her voice is quiet yet blissful. A smile creeps to her cheeks and she lets out a breath. "Y, yes! Yes, let's, ah, talk again later! Heeheehee..." Her cheeks flush red, and she looks almost as if in ecstasy. You are fully aware of how awkward and odd the response is, but you smile and wave anyway. This is game universe filled with fanservice, and she was written in that weirdly perverse way after all. You turn around and walk away. 

 

  You jog around, looking for a certain someone. To be honest, you could talk to many other people about much more important things, but you need to let go of something. You tour through some main locations before seeing a similar silhouette on the beach. You find the person you're looking for, kneeling on the pure white sand and roughly prodding at a small crab with a stick. Crashing waves and a salty scent assault your senses as the setting sun finally finishes lying itself underneath the horizon.

  "One, two, three, four... One, two, three, four..." a childish voice chants, much less excitingly than you remember. You jog up to her, limping very slightly because of your injury. 

  "Hey, Saionji!" you call out. She flinches, quickly spinning her head to meet your gaze. The stick she held makes an inaudible thump as it hits the sand. She stands up and takes a step back; you're met with a cautious and fearful look on her face. "... Huh? Is, is there something wrong?"

  "You..." She's trembling. She swallows dryly and gathers the confidence to continue. "You... Th, that fatso said that in this situation, we should be most wary of each other in this situation..." 'That fatso?' Is she talking about Togami? She takes a glance at your hands and then looks back at you. "You had a knife on you earlier..." she hesitantly mentions. "You're here to kill me off, aren't you?! You plan on killing off the cute vulnerable one, right?" 

  "Woah! Don't get the wrong idea!" you quickly deny. "There is nothing that could possibly bring me to kill anyone in this situation." She looks skeptical. You sigh. "Look, I just, I mean, well, first of all..." You try to un-jumble your thoughts, waving your hands in attempt to get your point across. "First of all, I took out that knife in hope of preventing this entire thing! And, um, I can't really pull something like that again... Anyway," you reach a hand into your pocket. Saionji takes another step back. "I just like keeping my word," your hand slips out your pocket, holding a name brand packet of gummy bears. "Even for someone like you." You outstretch your arm. The little dancer's eyes widen as she approaches your gift. 

  "You..." She seems to be at a loss for words as she slowly accepts the gummies. Your eyes trail from her hands holding the candy to her eyes with brimming tears. Only now do you notice the red puffiness around her eyes. There is a moment of silence before she quickly snuffles and snickers. "Heh, thanks 'Big Sis!' At least you're not completely useless, keeping your word..." Her voice trails off as she looks away. 

  "Saionji?" You hesitantly approach her. "Are, are you alright?" She doesn't back away; you rest a hand on her shoulder. 

  She lets out a huff of laughter. "Heh... there really is no escape from your talent, is there?" A tired smile appears on her lips as she wipes away a tear that's not there. "I really am... afraid of dying here..." she says with a cracking and trembling voice. You make a face. What? Is she really? Despite how she acts, sneering at the others and teasing that they'd be the first victim, is she really afraid? She's not exactly your favorite character, but how could you just leave this situation when she's standing there, shaking in fear? You sigh and pat her shoulder. 

  "Saionji... don't worry." She raises her head and looks at you with glazed eyes. "You can trust me; I won't let you die, okay?" It's an almost empty promise;  in the third chapter she becomes a victim at the hands of Mikan. However, her death was almost too pointless, so maybe there is a possibility to prevent it. Besides, the only reason Mikan had killed her that time was because she happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. 

  "Won't let me die..?" She looks at you with big blue watery eyes. You smile at her. "Ca, can we really trust you?"

  "What?" You're taken off guard. We?

  "I mean," she looks away and brings up a hand to bite her nails. "It's just 'cause I overheard that spikey antenna idiot..." 'Spikey antenna?' Is she talking about Hajime Hinata? Does the protagonist find you untrustworthy? Your heart beats faster. It's not a terrible thing; Hinata is a bit of a paranoid character at the beginning. Although, something in you feels a sort of fundamental uneasiness by this, being on the other side of the protagonist. 

  "Did he happen to say something like, 'I wonder if we can really trust her. No one even noticed she had a knife on her.'?" You want to confirm your suspicion, if you were half-conscious or really just fantasizing. Saionji furrows her brow. 

  "Yeah.. he did," she mutters. Suddenly, she lets out an exasperated roar and presses her hands to her head, almost ruffling her hair. "Aurgh!! You're too all-seeing! I just wanted to cry here alone, but it looks like you know what's going on even when you're unconscious..." She ends her statement with a huff and turns away. You arc a brow. You don't think you've ever seen Hiyoko Saionji so genuinely vulnerable. Is the reason you were never able to see this side as Hinata because he's a boy? You sigh. 

  "Saionji, do you want to be alone right now?"

  "..."

  "..."

  "No, I don't."

  The two of you spent a moment together, just sitting by the beach and poking at crustaceans. Crashing waves seem to subside as the stars slowly start to show themselves in the darkened sky. Hiyoko Saionji grew up bullied but pampered. Even with her assailants doing things such as poisoning her and putting needles into her shoes, is that an excuse for her rotten personality? Even with her grandmother pampering her and refusing to let her see her parents, is that an excuse for her rotten personality? Either way, even in this situation someone like her still fears death. 

 

  A bell rings throughout the islands. Its tune is not dissimilar to a school bell at the start of class. Then the monitor buzzes to life, letting a green haze before revealing the image of Monokuma with a fanciful drink. You and Saionji stand up to face the monitor. 

  "Um, this is an announcement from Hope’s Peak Academy’s Field Trip Executive Committee," he starts, bouncing with animated motions as he talks. "It is now 10PM." He leans back, holding the drink and moving it in a circular motion as if judging its quality. As if he could actually drink it. You scowl. "Night brings out the worst in people… If you walk outside, you may inadvertently come across a killer!" He leaned towards the camera and let his jagged red eye shine as he said that. Then he leans back, smiling a bit wider than usual. "And so, in order to quell you bastards’ worries, I have prepared separate cottages for each of you..." He brings up a paw to his mouth and tilts his head. "Upupu? What's this? It seems like we're lacking one cottage... Looks like you guys are gonna have to fight for it!" He leans back and laughs, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. "I've left name plates for the each of you, claim a cottage before you're stuck without one!" A cold feeling climbs up your spine. So it seems like Monomi didn't have time to fix you up a cottage before she got punished. Or maybe she did and Monokuma tore it down in hopes of making a more interesting scenario. You shut your eyes. What's going to happen? Well, at the very least, this means that someone else could be the odd one out with this cottage situation. "You can sleep there in safety and comfort! That is, if you get one! I hope you like them!" You can see his shoulders bounce as he presses his paws to his mouth, giggling. "I strongly recommend you lock your doors up tight before going to bed. You never know who’s prowling about, scheming murder!" You imagine a cold look from Saionji. You don't look away from the monitor. Monokuma leans up to the camera seeming giddy like a baby with candy. "Upupu… Bye-o-nara!" The monitor buzzes off, leaving only a green afterglow on the screen. You sigh before looking to your side. 

  "Well, I guess we should get go-" She's gone. Hiyoko Saionji is gone. Looking at the sand, you notice her foot prints have already left for the hotel. Honestly, what the hell. Are you the only person to finish watching the announcements before moving along? You try your best to quickly make your way to the cottages. You limp slightly from the gash, wincing as you think that maybe you reopened it or something. You're one of the last ones to arrive. The name plates for the students were piled on a pool bench. The wooden floor clanks as you quickly step to get yours. In the background you notice about five students scrambling to claim their cottages. You see what's left of the pile of labels with only you, Teruteru Hanamura, Chiaki Nanami, and Mikan Tsumiki. You notice that each of your names only appear finely on the upper right corner. The main image on them being a 8bit pixel rendition of each of yourselves. You pick up your plate and look at it. It's a perfect square, about the size of a notebook, and it's heavy like a bathroom tile. You look... cuter in this form, you think. 

  You hear a loud 'THUNK.'

  "A, ah! [Name]!" The voice of Mikan calls out. You turn your head to look at the source of the voice and almost regret it. On the floor is Mikan Tsumiki with her legs spread and a toppled potted plant. The leaves of the plant just barely cover her panties as her hands helplessly try to cover her embarrassment. "P, p, p, p, please help meee!!" Your cheeks are set on fire; seeing this kind of thing in person is definitely more intense. You cough into your hand before responding. 

  "Y, yeah ok." You move to help her, offering a hand to pull her into a sitting position. Pulling her up, you almost slip after wincing from your wound. "Th, there we go," you say as Mikan sways in place. "Are you alright?" She presses a hand to her head. 

  "Y, yea..h..." she mutters with a cracking voice. "I, I'm fi, ine..." She quickly shakes her head and directs her attention to the name plates. "Oh, oh my goodness! Look at your bandages! You've co, completely bled through them!" She frantically reaches for the medical kit o her waistband. Her fingers fumble to retrieve more bandages. "You, I, I need to change your bandages!" She leans over to you and peels off your bandages; you help by holding up your shirt a tad. It's your first time looking at it; it doesn't look good. It's a smooth cut, three actually. Monokuma's claws must be really sharp for your skin to be so cleanly sliced like this. You can distinctly see hot red flesh underneath the less colorful skin. It feels weird to see something so bright and red come from your own body. Lost in your own morbid thoughts, you hadn't noticed Mikan press an alcohol doused cloth onto your wound until the sting kicked in. 

  "HeEIIGHHHNNMMM!!" Your faces scrunches and curls in pain as your voice lets out the unflattering reaction. The stinging is as immediate as it is excruciating. You clench a fist as you bite your lip. Disinfecting wounds sure is important, but it's definitely a lot better when it's just a scab on your knee. Mikan looks up to you with a worried expression. 

  "Ah!! I'm sorry! Are you alright? I warned you about it, but maybe I should've been more clear?" She wipes the cloth around a bit, clearing the area of your blood. "Just a second longer, I'm almost done." And with that, she attaches a thick layer of bandages around your wound. "There, how's that? How do you feel?" She pats her handiwork before smiling to herself. You smile meekly. 

  "Better," you lie. You look at the discarded bandages, and you're surprised at the amount of blood you lost. It's not a lot, but it's more than you thought it'd be. You wonder why you don't feel light headed. Is it because this is a virtual reality? Is it because you didn't think about it? It's probably not important. The two of you stand back up after cleaning up the mess of medical supplies. Looking back at the name plates, there are only two left. The others must have gone and claimed their cottages while Mikan was changing your bandages. 

  "Ah," you tighten your lips. Well, it's not like you were supposed to have a cottage anyway. You shrug. "Well, thanks for taking care of me, Mikan. It's nice to have you looking after me like this." 

  "Heheheh!" Mikan smiles happily as her hands come together in content. "I'm glad to have been of use!" You return her smile and speak up. 

  "Come on, lets go." The two of you retrieve your respective name plates and approach the last unclaimed cottage. You were hoping to avoid this situation, the situation where you'd be seen as suspicious as the one student without a cottage. But, it's a bit different than you expected. In this situation, any of the other students could have been without a room.  And in this situation, it's your choice to not have a room. "Mikan, you should take it."

  "Eh?" 

  "You took care of me after I passed out, you answered all my questions honestly after I woke up, and you even helped change my bandages earlier." You turn to look at her and give a hearty grin. "I have quite the debt for you. You should take it." Mikan looks at you with an expression that wants to decline your generosity. Her lips are pressed together and quivering slightly like she's trying her best to restrain from disobeying. 

  "I, I'm sorry... I, I wasn't completely honest with you." She starts to bite her nail. "The last thing you asked, I didn't tell you about what happened before everyone split up..." Huh? Your eyes widen. Did something happen that she wouldn't want to tell you about? "T, Togami told everyone that the thing we should be most careful of is each other, and our will to escape this island. He put suspicion on each other... an, and then people started... talking about how you were the most dan, angerous out of all of us..." She looks away. 

  "..." You become expressionless. "I see." You close your eyes. So they have started to distrust you already. You take in a deep breath. You feel your heart tighten. It's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. You'll figure it out. "Mikan," you say, opening your eyes, "thank you for telling me this." You relax yourself, smiling gently. "I, I still want you to take the room." She stiffly nods and hooks her name plate onto the cover of the mailbox. She spins around and bows lowly. 

  "Tha, th, thank you!! You're far too kind!" She turns around a jogs into her room, closing the door behind her. Just as the door clicks shut, something immediately comes into view. 

  "Well, well, well!!" greets the suspiciously bear-like figure. "Look who it is! Upupu, how interesting that the one who attacked me like a barbarian is the one without a cabin," Monokuma says with a sing-song tone of voice. You tighten your jaw and narrow your eyes. The stuffed bear laughs, "Upupupu! How scary! Ah, but don't worry." He takes a few steps forward and paces back and forth, resting his paws behind his back as if he an aristocrat appreciating modern art. "I know it wouldn't be nice to just let you sleep without a safe cottage, and because I am such a nice and forgiving guy..." He stops and turns to you. "I have a solution to where you'll sleep tonight!"

  "Huh?" You take a step back. What? The deranged bear takes in a deep breath before putting his paws by his mouth. 

  "Listen up, you shitheads!!" he hollers. "Congratulations on claiming your very own cottage!!" A few doors shyly open, followed by heads peeking out to see the commotion. "Now please!! Exit your cottages for just a moment!! I have a very important announcement to make!!" Reluctantly, people start stepping out of their rooms. All of them look exhausted, almost as if they haven't slept for days. You notice that Hinata looks particularly spent.

  "What is the meaning of this?" Togami says, stepping out from his door. "First this inane scramble for cottages, and now what?" All of the ultimates stare down on you and Monokuma, or at least it feels that way. You play with the hem of your shirt. You feel like shriveling under the attention. 

  "Your poor classmate was too late to get a cottage for her own; don't you feel bad for her??" Monokuma stretches out his arms as if presenting you like a prize. You shift your weight awkwardly. The other students look at each other, letting an uneasy silence spread between them. A moment passes before they start to agree, mumbling and nodding heads.

  "Indeed!" answers Nevermind with a delicate hand by her mouth to project her words. "Without secure housing is considerably unfortunate!"

  "That's right!" adds Souda. He smiles over to Nevermind in hopes for her attention. She doesn't look at him. You sigh. 

  "Sleeping is super important to keep your body in top shape!!" yells Nidai, balling his fists. "And it's just as important to have a safe place to sleep!"

  "That's great!" Monokuma continues. "Then you would be willing to room with her, right?" Everyone's expressions change, some more hesitant and worried (Hinata), and some more excited (Hanamura). "Well, it's not like you have a choice," Monokuma says without waiting for a response this time. He jumps and puts a paw up. "Alright! Let's get the show on the road!" You feel a slight rumble before a trapdoor opens on the wooden floor. Suddenly, a wheel of fortune type machine pops up from under, emitting sounds that wouldn't be out of place in a casino. The machine is bedazzled with flashy lights and reflective ornaments. Many of the decorations seem to be of Monokuma's likeness; in the dark of night, it's a bit hard to look at. Each of the slides on the wheel features an 8bit rendition of one of the students. "Now, let's spin the wheel and see who will end up sharing a cottage with out unlucky contestant!!" Huh? This is really how it's going to play out? Monokuma raises his paw, ready to spin the machine. 

  "Wait!!! Wait, wait, wait!" You block his way by standing in front of the flashy wheel of fortune machine. Monokuma backs off, tilting his head. 

  "Upupu? What's the matter, [Name]? I'm doing this for you, after all."

  "You," you furrow your brow, "you're just gonna have me room with someone at random? What if I end up with a boy? Are you just gonna let me sleep with a boy like that??" Monokuma steps back, growing red. Steam seeps out of him as if he were hot and bothered. 

  "Haah... hah.. Well, that's definitely heart throbbing isn't it?" He seems to perspire, as impossible as that is, and rests his paws by his heart. "Were you secretly hoping for something like this? I'm more for innuendoes than saying it right out, but that's just my opinion." 

  "Hey! This is serious!" shouts Koizumi with her hands on her hips. "A girl really shouldn't be sleeping with a boy, you know! Jeez, how indecent!"

  "That's right, you bastard!" yells the young yakuza, putting up a fist in rage. "D, doing something like that to us minors... That's totally wrong!!" He's pretty far away, but you're pretty sure that if you were closer you could see a vein on his temple. 

  "Ibuki thinks this plan is totally wack!" Mioda puts a hand on her chin as if in deep though. "Yep.. this is totally a wack plan..."

  "Well, I wouldn't mind it..." mutters Hanamura with a perverse smile. You cringe. 

  "Watch it, Hanamura," warns Komaeda. 

  "Upupupu? How interesting," Monokuma muses, and the he shrugs. "Oh well, we'll just have to see!" Suddenly, you're roughly pushed to the side as the black and white bear spins the wheel of misfortune. The wheel makes satisfying clacking sounds as each student spins by. As quickly as it was spun, it's starting to slow down. 

  "W, wait!!" A thought passes your mind. "I, if you leave it up to luck... then it's definitely gonna end up being-!!" The wheel clacks two more times before confirming the victim. 

  "Congratulations~!" Monokuma cheers. "It looks like you're our lucky winner, Nagito Komaeda!!" 

  Ah. Of course. 

 

  And without another moment, Monokuma disappeared, taking the wheel of fortune with him. 

  "Well, I hope I can go to sleep now." Owari yawns loudly and stretches. "I don't get the big deal around sleeping with a guy, but whatever." She returns to her room, and the others follow suit. A few of them complain about the interruption, others leave without a word. You stand there, awkwardly clutching onto your name plate. You, you're gonna share a room with Komaeda? A warm feeling encases your cheeks as you can almost feel your heartbeat bang against your rib cage. You're breathing heavily. You're going to be sharing a room with Komaeda. No. Shut up. Calm down. Nothing like that is going to happen, you idiot. Shut up. You quickly make your way to his cottage, stoping at the mailbox. His 8bit rendition is already pasted on. You stick yours onto the side. It looks sloppy, like it's not supposed to be there (and it isn't). You look up. The lucky boy is standing at his open door. You squint your eyes. Because of the light behind him, you can only make out his silhouette leaning against the door frame. You swallow dryly and make your way to the entrance and close the door behind you. 

  "Jeez, I'm so sorry for this crazy inconvenience," you say, lowering your head just in case your face is as red as it feels. 

  "It's not a problem," you hear him say. "It's my fault for having such bad luck in the first place." He laughs, waving his hand. 

  "No! No, it's not your fault!" You look up at him. "Your luck is not your fault, and it's not your fault that there's only sixteen cottages." He doesn't have a response, and there's a lull in conversation where you two just look at each other. He looks so beautiful. His eyes look as if they were crafted by the most skilled artisan; his lips look like soft pink delicate petals; his skin look smooth and flawless like a pearl; and his hair looks akin to clouds. You, on the other hand, probably look nothing more than a sweaty, embarrassed teenager. Your heart is pounding, wanting nothing more than to fill this silence with something. Anything. You clear your throat. "So! Um!" You walk the middle of his room and look around. "Nice room! Uh, where am I, um, going to sleep?" 

  "Oh! Um," he shakes himself out of a daze. He takes a quick glance around, resting a finger on his chin in thought. "Hm. Well, if it comes down to it, I could sleep on the ground while you take the bed." You put up your hands in protest. 

  "Absolutely not! I won't let you sacrifice your bed like that, especially not after letting me share the room with you." You imagine the most cliche move would be to sleep in the same bed as him, but even if this world isn't real, you don't think your heart is ready for that. 

  "Wow! It's so nice that you're being so considerate for someone as pointless as me!" He smiles carelessly as your face shifts to a horrified expression. 

  "Oh my gosh! Komaeda, stop saying stuff like that!" You hit him lightly. "I don't know why you keep saying such self deprecating stuff when you're so..." Beautiful and smart and nice, even if you are a little crazy. Oh wait, whoops. Looks like you didn't end up saying that out loud. Well, maybe that's a good thing. "You're so..." Precious and valuable and unique, even if you did end up bringing a lot of despair to people. Oh, it looks like you didn't say that out loud again. Wait, was your face always this hot? It was hot before, but it feels like you're on fire right now. "Y, you're so..." Your throat dries up before you can finish. Your heart beats faster. Komaeda lets out a chuckle and looks to the side. 

  "Ahaha... I see, even you aren't able to come up with anything positive about me." He smiles weakly. "It's not your fault. Even with your ability, you can't find anything of worth in me."

  "Shut up!!" Your face feels like it's on fire, but you can't let this beautiful boy keep talking himself down. "Komaeda! You're so beautiful!! And you're so smart! You've been nothing but nice to me since we arrived! You're precious and valuable in a way that you can't see! You're not worthless, and being here with you now is an unbelievable otherworldly honor to me!" He's shocked, to say the least. His mouth is left slightly open; his eyes widen. Your heart is pounding like a drum, filling your ears with its music. You realize how close you've gotten, almost leaning in with only three inches of difference. You relax your posture and take a step back. 

  "...I," he starts. Then he closes his mouth, not knowing what else to say. A red flush appears on his cheeks. You look down, focusing on the hem of your shirt and fiddle with the cloth between your fingers. Maybe you shouldn't have said something so embarrassing. You're not exactly someone to completely avoid self deprecating jokes; they're funny. But he says these things so carelessly and so genuinely, as if he really believes he's as worthless as he says. It's not true. This is Nagito Komaeda, the most popular male character in the entire Danganronpa franchise. This is Nagito Komaeda, the catalyst for the biggest plot points in this game. Nothing about him is worthless at all. 

  "Wow have I come at a weird time or what?" says a familiarly annoying voice. You and Komaeda turn to see the killing game mascot looking to the side and blushing. He coughs and turns around.  "Well, you two kids seem to be getting along, so I'll just be on my way."

  "Wait, what did you come here for?" Komaeda calls out. Monokuma stops, but doesn't turn around. 

  "Weeell..." he starts, dragging out his words, "I waaas gonna give you a futon, buuut you two seem to be getting along just fine." He turns so you can just see his white side. "Upupu, by the way, that's a queen size bed. Bye!!" And without a blink of an eye, he disappears. And then silence. You and Komaeda stand there for a moment, neither knowing what to do nor what to say. Komaeda takes in a breath. 

  "Thanks."

  "Wh, what?" You're taken off guard. 

  "I said, 'Thanks.'" You turn to look at him; he's looking down with flushed cheeks. "I can't actually think of a time that anyone had given me a complement." He smiles and scratches the back of his neck. "Even if it's not genuine, if you don't mean it, it's nice to hear something like that." Your heart breaks. Oh. Oh god, you forgot how void of compassion his life was. You remember he had the typical sad anime boy upbringing. You remember he lost his family, his dog, and even his good health, but you had completely forgotten that Nagito Komaeda never had any friends. You forgot because he's been so endlessly kind to you and everyone else. You forgot because everyone outside this universe hails him as their favorite character. He is so endlessly loved, and yet he doesn't know it at all. He slowly raises his head to look at you. He's got a careless smile on his face. The edge of his lips curl in a cute expression, but a part of you feels like it's fake. 

  "..." What do you say? How do you move this scene forward? You take a step forward. He recoils at first but stays still. You move closer to him, standing toe to toe. He's taller than you. For a moment, you study his shirt. It's stupid, you think. Stupid that it's just some random, pointless design. But you also think it's cool; it's unique and pretty. It fits with his green and red color scheme. Wait, his color scheme is green and red? And his hair and tshirt are white. Christmas colors... "Pffheheh..." You accidentally let out a soft laugh as the thought of this iconic character in some sort of Christmas garb. Your laughter quickly dies, and you close your eyes. You rest your head on his shoulder. 

  "[Lastname]..?"

  "Hey." You cut him off. You turn your head a bit. The rustling of your forehead and his jacket sounds loud to you; you wonder if he thinks so too. He smells faintly of salt and shampoo. Your heart is pounding like crazy. "Can I..." You can faintly hear his heartbeat. Is it his? Maybe that's your heartbeat. "Can I call you Nagito?" You can feel him hitch a breath. Is he nervous? Embarrassed? Either way, he can't be as much as you are. 

  "Ah, y, yeah, of course..." He's quiet, almost whispering. It's like he's afraid that speaking any louder would scare you away. You hold onto the edge of his jacket. If anything, you're afraid of scaring him away. 

  "Nagito..." The name rolls off your tongue with a sweet feeling. You can feel your cheeks get actively warmer and your heart actively louder. "Everything I have said I believe." You feel him become stiff, straightening his shoulders. You tighten your fingers around his jacket. "You..." you take a breath, "You are so much more than you say you are. And I'm saying this as someone who knows your entire character." You take a deep breath. You breathe out. You turn your head a bit more, feeling his strands of hair grazing your ear. "As someone who knows about your past, your present, and your ideals about hope and talent." You feel him flinch, as if you just pricked him with a needle. "To me, Nagito, you are precious." You open your eyes. 

  "..." Ah. No response. From this angle it's hard to tell his expression. You sigh and raise your head. You ready to step back, letting go of his jacket. Suddenly, you feel his arms wrap around you. Your eyes widen and you feel your heart beat out of your chest. His hands rest on your lower back, pulling you closer. You take deep breaths and hold a hand close to your chest. You almost feel dizzy with all the blood rushing to your face. You feel him lower his head, trying to rest on your shoulder like you did his. But he's too tall. "[Lastname]..." he starts, quietly pronouncing each syllable. Chills climb up your back. "Do I have your permission to call you [Name]?" He stands still, waiting for you to answer. You nod, but you're pretty sure he couldn't see it. "[Name]..." You feel his breath against your neck. It's not hot, but you're melting either way. "I want you to kill me." You pale. That isn't what you expected him to say. 

  "What good would that do?" You smile and pull back, looking into his eyes. Only now do you notice how red his face is. His eyes are glazed and twisted. The edge of his mouth is curled with a tinge of craziness. His hands rest at the sides of your hips. Your heart beats faster. 

  "You should know, right?" His grin widens and makes the edge of his eyes squint. "It's so I can become a stepping stone, and you can live on for a brighter hope!" He trembles as the words leave his mouth, trembling almost as if he were holding back a laugh. You push off his hands and take a step back. You wince slightly at the stinging in your side. His face drops and yours becomes stiff. You look away. 

  "Hope..." You narrow your eyes. "You, you need to learn that there's something more important than hope." It's the future. You need everyone to look forward to the future. Nagito smiles. 

  "'Something more important than hope?' What could possibly be more important than hope?" He raises a hand, looking at it as if he could see an ultimate truth in his palm. "Nothing... Nothing is more important..." You're silent for a moment. How do you reason with him? What can you say to him? What should you say to him? 

  "Nagito," you start, looking up at him, "I will tell you your future as I have seen it." You take a deep breath. What you will say might change the future, change that happy ending that you see in the game. You breathe out. Maybe there's more than one way to that happy ending, a way that doesn't have to brutally put these kids through scarring situations. Either way, you can only hope that you're doing the right thing. You look him in the eyes. "You will live for your hope. You will die for your hope. You will be killed for your hope. And you will kill for your hope." There's another quiet moment. Nagito looks into your eyes, first your left, then your right, then your left again. Then he lets out a breath as if he had been holding it for a long time. 

  "That's... such a relief!" He smiles and presses a hand to his forehead. "That's so good to hear..." You admit, his unstable mental state is a charm that made him a popular character. However, seeing him as a living breathing person who's standing in front of you making a death wish, it makes you want to help him. You sigh. This isn't something to be thinking about so early in the story. So early that the first chapter has yet to start. You gather your resolve: you won't let Nagito Komaeda commit suicide. 

  "... It's... gotten late." You look off to the side and rub your arm. Even from here, you can see a flurry of stars shining outside the window. Nagito follows your gaze and nods. 

  "..." He shifts his weight, relaxing his posture. "Y, yeah..." The silence seems to engulf the two of you. 

  "I'm... I'm gonna take a shower," you announce, stepping back. A tint of pink passes through his cheeks before he recoils and nods. You turn around and head into the bathroom without looking back. 

  Closing he door behind you, you realize that you don't have a change of clothes. This is Nagito's cottage after all, and you weren't even supposed to be in this program. Whatever, if it's just today, then maybe you can keep wearing this. You start to strip, peeling off undergarments that practically stuck to your skin. That's right, you sweat a lot today. Between the running and the nervous break outs, you do not smell the greatest right now. Realizing this, you blush at the thought of Nagito holding you closer like that. You close your eyes and imagine his arms around you again; his delicate but masculine hands resting at your lower back, his hair framing your view. You sigh in bliss before imagining the deadly jealousy other fans of Danganronpa would have. You open your eyes and shake off your imagination. You strip the rest of your cloths off and turn on the shower. You're about to hop in when you notice your Electronic Student Handbook flashing. You pick it up and look at the screen. 

  "Hope Shard for Mikan Tsumiki Acquired!"

  "Hope Shard for Hiyoko Saionji Acquired!"

  "Hope Shard for Nagito Komaeda Acquired!" 

  You huff. It's so silly to still have this function; there's no real point to it with the killing game going on like this, and yet here you are, smiling. 

 

  You let out a relaxed sigh as you step out of the shower. It feels so good to cleaned off the grime of the day from your skin. The room is steamy and so is the mirror. You wipe away fog to see your reflection; you look a lot cuter than usual. You almost have to do a double take on your features. Your skin looks so much smoother and suspiciously free of all acne. Your eyes seem just a little bit bigger, and your nose just a little bit smaller. Maybe... maybe this is just your imagination. You shake off your suspicions and continue to dry yourself off. The towel is soft, like nothing you've ever used before. After you finish drying yourself, you reluctantly prepare to dress yourself in your dirty outfit. Just as you began slipping them on, you notice a separate set of clothes next to your dirty ones. They're a complete replica save for the filth. You bring one up to your nose, smells like clean laundry. You shrug and assume the best; that it's due to something in the Neo World Program's code. You don't want to think about the worst. 

  You step out the bathroom, letting a light cloud of steam follow you. You feel so refreshed, but you just notice how hungry you are. You, along with most of the other students, skipped dinner today. Although, you're willing to bet that food is the last thing on their minds. Well, except for maybe Akane. You look around and notice the complete absence of a particular white haired boy. Did anyone go out this late at night in the game? It's hard to say; Hinata just went to bed as soon as the 10pm announcement rang. You furrow your brow and feel your heart tighten. No, don't worry. He probably just went to get dinner. You go and sit on the bed. It's so soft. It's pretty spacious too. You click your tongue and bite your nail. 

  "Nagito..." you talk to yourself. "I want you to live... even in this world..." And then you lie down, wrapping yourself in a comforter and closing your eyes. You fall asleep, drifting off to the thought that maybe you're making all the wrong choices. 

 

  But in this situation, what would possibly be the right choice?


	6. The Morning After

  It's so hot; you think that's what pulled you awake. Gross, are you sweating? You want to go back to sleep. You still have you eyes closed, but you want to go back into a sweet unconsciousness. One where you can catch a few un-fantastical dreams before getting up. Those dreams where there's a soft feather-like feeling tickling your lips and chin, a separate and warm heartbeat is pressed against your stomach, and a consistent hot breathing against your chest. Wait.. that's... not what a dream feels like. Your eyes shoot open, and you're met with a white mess of hair in your vision. You twitch your entire body, as if making sure that you still had control over it. Your movement causes a large mass to groan and pull you closer. His arms feel warm as they press into your back and waist. You hitch a breath. You distinctly feel his heartbeat against your abdomen; you wonder if he can feel how hard your heart is pounding. His face presses into your collarbone. You hold your breath. You slept with Nagito Komaeda last night. God, if you weren't hot before, you're definitely overheating now. You're a fan of various Japanese media, so this 'waking up next to the person of interest' trope is not lost on you. The authors even use it in the third chapter with Mikan and Hinata. You recognize the cliche, yet here you are, practically cradling Nagito's head with your fingers entangled in his hair. It's so smooth; you take a moment to play with the strands between your fingers. You're uncomfortable with this closeness, or at least you should be. Your heart is practically pounding out of your chest, and you also feel grossly stuffy and hot. But despite all this, the only thought going through your mind is how pleasant he smells. You think it's shampoo, but it smells savory and almost like salt. You don't mind it, not at all. You shake the thought from your mind; that's definitely not important right now. You push the pale boy and heave yourself to a sitting position. He whimpers at the loss of heat but quickly relaxes.  
  "You're not awake, are you?" you barely whisper. No response, he must still be sleeping, right? Would he have a reason to be pretending? You can't think of one, but maybe it's because your mind is still muggy in the early morning. How early is it? You turn your head to look at the windows. You don't know what time it is, but the sun has just barely begun rising, letting pink and purple rays seep through the window blinds. It's way too early to be awake, but also your heart is beating way to fast to lay back down next to Nagito. Nagito... He looks so peaceful with his lids gently covering his eyes and his mouth just slightly open. Hair caresses and frames his face; it's messy and yet so perfect. He's so beautiful, but you wonder why he went into bed with you, and you also wonder where he went last night. You sigh. You absentmindedly push a lock of hair out of his face, gently brushing it to the side.   
  "Mmh.." He tilts his head a little, making that lock of hair fall back. He furrows a brow cutely, like a child confronted with a vegetable they don't like. You smile and arc a brow. Could he really be awake? That reaction seemed a little too immediate. Maybe you should test him, but what could do to do that? A thought passes your mind, a stupid one that you're not gonna do, but it's still an idea. You were thinking that you could make this situation even more stupidly cliche if you leaned over him and lowered your head. If you put your weight on one hand, sinking into the mattress. If you brushed your hair out of your face with the other. If you whispered to him in a slight smile.   
  "If you don't wake up right now, I'm gonna kiss you." Huh? Huh? Huh?  Did you really just do that? You can feel your face light up at your own words. Your posture tenses up and your lips purse together as you look over him. No response. You lean back a bit to get some air. Since when did you have the guts to do something like this? When did you become so suddenly daring? Is it an effect of being in a virtual reality? Even when you charged at Monokuma you had such little restraint. You bite your lip; you really can't believe you said out loud. You feel your heart beat faster when Nagito shifts his weight a bit. Could it be that he'a awake and pretending to be asleep so you'll kiss him? Or is it that really is asleep and you're just overthinking things?  If he really is awake, maybe he will think of you as a liar if you don't go through with it. What? Where did that come from? It almost seems as if you're making an excuse to go through with it. No, shut up. You shake your head; there's no reason to do this. You're just an idiot.   
  You decide to get up, for real this time. You look down. The only thing inturupting you and the edge of the bed is the sleeping boy.  After taking in a breath of confidence, you awkwardly crawl over him, looking away as you straddle him for a quick second. Your legs feel like jelly upon stepping on the floor, but the feeling doesn't stand out when a numb pain on your side blooms. You lift your shirt to look at your wound. It's covered in bandages, and you wonder if it's okay to take them off without Mikan. You push aside the concern and take a seat on a nearby couch. Holding your shirt with your teeth, you begin to peel off your bandages, revealing a thick dark scabbing and reddish blotches of irritation around it. It looks like it's not going to bleed anymore, and also that it won't rip open unless you get really rowdy. With this in mind, you decide to leave it as it is and discard the bandages. Standing up, you notice the familiar jacket neatly folded and laid across the back of the couch. You pick it up and take a glance at Nagito; he's still asleep. You look back at the jacket in your hands, and you slip it on. It's not like he's using it right now, right? It's so comfortable, like the love child of all your favorite hoodies and comforters. You smile as you raise your hand to your face. The sleeve completely covers your palm, letting you press your the plush cloth into your cheek. Also, it smells like him, as creepy as it sounds; savory. Maybe this is a bit childish, but you want to steal it from him as if you were a younger sibling. It's the real thing; Nagito Komaeda's iconic green jacket, complete with a super long and weirdly cut coattail. It's better than any cosplay replica you've ever seen; it's worn and comfy in like something you'd easily fall asleep in. You want to keep it.

  You step out of the bathroom after having brushed your teeth and prepared yourself for the day. You smile, feeling refreshed; you were even able to retrieve your Magical Girl Usami charm from the pocket of your dirty clothes. You had spent some time rummaging to find it. You don't know how log you were in there, but the sun has risen and you can see specs of dust drifting in the light of the open windows. You also see that there's a familiar boy making the bed with his hair pulled back into a loose pony tail. His bangs messily frame his face with one lock prominently falling between his eyes. Dusty green eyes meet with yours and look down at the jacket your wearing.   
  "Ah, so that's where that went," he says with a sort of teasing smile. You blush and look down as he speaks up again. "Don't worry, I don't mind."   
  "Well," you huff, "good morning to you too, Nagito." You reluctantly slip off the comfortable outerwear and set it on the couch.   
  "How long have you been awake? Are you okay?" He finishes making the bed, patting the comforter to smooth out stray creases. You furrow a brow, not really understanding.   
  "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" You think for a moment. "Are you okay?" Nagito leans against the bedpost and crosses his arms. Is he worried about you?   
  "I'm fine, but when I came back last night you were crying; I thought you were awake at first." He walks over to you, to an almost uncomfortable closeness. You want to back away, but the beat of your heart tells you to let this play out. "I know this situation is hard on all of us." He smiles gently and brings his hand to brush your hair out of your face. "If you need to talk, I'm here." You look away. What could have made you cry? It could've been an unfortunately timed nightmare, but are you perhaps more bothered by this situation than you think you are? That's impossible; even if this situation is more horrific than anything, it's still a scenario that many people would envy you to death for experiencing. You think for a moment.   
  "Wait," you start, "Is that why you were sleeping next to me?" Nagito recoils bashfully and rubs the back of his neck.   
  "Ahaha, it was the only way that I got you to stop crying without waking you up."   
  "Well, I don't mind I guess. I didnt want you to sleep on the floor after all," you reason. Maybe you should've slept on the floor yourself. "I just don't know what could've made me cry like that." You hitch a breath when he holds you by the waist. You blush, and he pulls you closer. When did the two of you become so suddenly comfortable with this? You hold your hands close to your chest. You suddenly feel his breath hit your ear as he leans down and whispers.   
  "You know, if you want to get off this island, I can be your stepping stone." You push him away and look to the side.   
  "Go clean up, Nagito." He obliges and leaves with a sort of knowing grin on his lips. As you hear the bathroom door click shut, you sigh. It's difficult to label how you feel about Nagito. Of course a part of you is infatuated with him, his character and place in the Danganronpa universe. In this sense, you look at him like a celebrity persona, someone who you'd let do anything because it's just his character. Although, on the other hand you worry and fear for him as a important person in your life; you worry for his mental and emotional health. You want to help him, but you wonder if it's even your place to help him at all. You can't ignore this throbbing in your heart either. This feeling that makes you giddy to talk to him again and blush when you do. This feeling that causes your heart to throb and ache at the thought of future conflicts. This feeling that makes you imagine his delicate hands on your waist and shiver in ecstasy. No, shut up. You're just infatuated, nothing else. It's very obviously not love. You don't really know him personally, and he definitely doesn't know you. Such sudden and throbbing feelings for him must be infatuation. But still, you can't ignore this blush on your face when he talks to you; you can't ignore the way you don't want him to let go when he holds you. Even if it is just infatuation, it's your true feelings and you shouldn't stifle that, right? You didn't realize it, but you had been clutching at your chest with a distant and blissful expression on your face.   
  "You tired?" Your head shoots up to meet Nagito smiling and his hair down. You're suddenly embarrassed; good thing he can't read minds. He definitely looks more teasing than worried. You shake your head, blushing.   
  "No, more hungry than tired actually," you respond. "It's still pretty early, but lets head to the restaurant." Nagito agrees and nods, and the two of you head out of the cottage.   
  The early sun feels warm against your skin in a comforting way, almost telling you that there isn't a killing game going on. Nagito walks ahead of you a bit. You move to catch up at first but notice the Magical Girl Usami charm still hooked on the chain on his belt. You grin and retrieve yours from your pocket. You look at it and a warm feeling spreads throughout you. It's cute, and it's a momento of before this killing game started... Huh? Upon closer inspection you notice the charm has become an Monomi charm instead of Usami. Curious, you catch up to Nagito.   
  "Hey you still have the Usami charm from yesterday, right?"   
  "Yeah?" He looks at you quizzically.   
  "Here let me see it," you say, reaching down and taking ahold of his skull chain. The first thing that takes you off guard is how smooth the chain feels; you're no professional silversmith, but it definitely looks high quality. Anyway, you avert your attention to the bunny charm and find that it has the same Monomi design as you. "Huh, that's so weird," you comment.   
  "Wh, what is it?" Nagito says, twisting his body to look. You shake your head.   
  "It's nothing, it's just, just the Usami charms changed. It's probably not important." This definitely doesn't matter. It's probably just something Monokuma did to mess with Monomi. You pull out your electronic student handbook and clip on the charm.   
  "Well, I hope not." He smiles, tilting his head a bit. Such a calming smile, such a calming expression, you feel calm around him. You smile too. 

  Reaching the end of the stairs, the two of you arrive at the hotel restaurant. No one else is here, seems like you're the first to arrive. Breakfast has already been prepared in the restaurant, filling the air with its aroma. Food is arranged on the tables in a fanciful way with various pastries and fruits presented on elevated plates and a large variety of consumables shaped into decorations. A diverse array of breakfast foods line the main tables with everything from American bacon and eggs to Chinese congee and youtiao. You feel your mouth comically water. You stare for a bit, partially in awe and partially in disbelief that this is what everyone had the pleasure of eating every day in the game.   
  "I wonder who prepared all this food," Nagito muses. You look at him with an arced brow. How can even be wondering something like that when you're so hungry?  
  "Monokuma would be my best guess," you say, humoring him. "But maybe he got the Monobeasts to do it for him." You giggle, imagining gigantic and monstrous robotic beasts wearing aprons and flipping pancakes. "Either way, it probably doesn't matter. Look at all this food!" You eagerly move to grab a plate and move to pack it with your favorites. You add a doughnut or two on your platter before you realize that Nagito hasn't moved at all. You pause, looking between the pastry on your plate and to the thin boy. "Do you... want one?" you say, gesturing to the doughnuts. "Oh wait, you don't like sweets... Maybe a bagel?" Nagito puts up his hands.   
  "Ah no thanks," he declines. "For some reason I feel like it's almost rude to eat without everyone else." Is it? You feel a bit awkward and lower your meal.   
  "Well, I didn't end up eating anything last night," you defend. "Actually, I don't think you did either. Did you?" You think about how he was gone when you went to sleep. He couldn't have gone to the restaurant for dinner; in the game they only discover the already prepared food in the morning. He takes in a breath to speak up.   
  "What is this succulent aroma that has invaded the esteemed nostrils of the Dark Devas of Destruction?" interrupts the overly dramatic tone of Gundum Tanaka. He enters the restaurant with a stunned expression. "What is this? Such an extravagant feast presented here must clearly be a lure for the dark and powerful Gundum Tanaka!" He strikes a pose; you giggle.   
  "Good morning, Tanaka," you greet, continuing to grace your plate with goods. He meets eyes with you and Nagito. He blushes.   
  "Ah indeed... A good morning to the two of you as well." There is a pause where he looks to the side and lets out a cough. He walks up to Nagito and whispers something to him, blocking you from seeing his mouth with his scarf. After a moment Nagito jumps back, waving his hands in denial.   
  "No, absolutely not!" he exclaims. The Ultimate Lucky Student laughs nervously; you turn your head. "We just slept together!" You grow bright red and quickly revert your attention to your food.   
  "I, I see..." you hear Tanaka mutter. He puts his hands on his hips and scans the room briefly. "It is an unexpected sight to see that no one else has arrived, based on how insistent that Heir was that I conjugate here."   
  "'Heir?' Could you be talking about Byakuya Togami?" Nagito asks, resting a finger on his chin in thought. Tanaka nods.   
  "Correct; it was he that declared to hold a  meeting with all the students to discuss recent events." Just as he finishes his sentence, a bell rings throughout the hotel, not dissimilar to the bell tune just before school starts.  
  "Um, This is an announcement from Hope’s Peak Academy’s Field Trip Executive Committee," says a familiar voice from a bright yellow monitor that buzzed to life. On the screen you can see an image of Monokuma idly pretending to sip from a fanciful glass. "Good morning, you bastards! It’s another perfect tropical day! Let’s give it all we got!" 


	7. Breakfast and Beyond

  Students quickly began pouring into the restaurant. Most of their faces look tired, some even a little red and puffy. A large portion joins you in helping themselves to the breakfast buffet, and for the most part everyone is quiet. As you're eating your food, which by the way is very delicious, you consider the stress these teenagers must be going through. Sure, waking up in an alternate universe is weird, but these kids genuinely think that their lives are on stakes. Your heart pangs. 

  "[Name]!" You turn your head and find Mikan calling for your attention. She trots up to you. She seems relieved at the sight of you. "Good morning!" You smile, happy to find someone not completely dejected. 

  "Good morning, Mikan," you reply. "What has you so happy?" She puts her hands over her face defensively. 

  "I'm s, sorry! Am I not allowed to be happy? I un, understand!" Behind her hands you can faintly see her eyes leaking tears. You sigh and calmly deny her claims. You pat her hair, and she seems to relax a bit. "H, how is your wound? It's better, right? I hope you don't mind me assuming." Mikan eyes your side. You nod and raise your shirt a little. 

  "Yeah, it looks a whole lot better, actually." You run a thumb across the irritation and feel a numb pain as you do. You don't show any reaction to it. "Anyway," you continue, "How are you feeling? It seems that most of everyone else had trouble sleeping." You and Mikan take a look around the room, reaffirming your statement. Your attention returns to your food, and you stick your fork into a stray strawberry and hold it up. "Do you want to eat something?" Mikan blushes before shyly nodding. You raise the strawberry closer to her mouth. "Aaa," you sound, motioning her to do the same. She hesitates to mimic you but eventually closes her mouth around the fruit. Just as you withdraw the fork from Mikan's lips you hear a voice call out. 

  "Ohmigosh!!! That was soo cute!" gushes an energetic girl, skipping over next to the two of you. "I didn't know little [Name] was so bold!" Ibuki nods and crosses her arms with a smile. "Mhm! I bet that boldness was not lost on Nagito! Teehee!" Your eyes widen as you blush. You take in a breath to retaliate, but she continues. "Hey hey! Why don't you feed Ibuki! Ibuki wants to be fed by a Super Cutie like [Name]!" You blush a bit harder. 

  "C, cu, cutie??" you echo. You shake off your embarrassment. "A, anyway! Na, Nagito and I didn't do anything like that together!" You point a finger in a criticizing manner. Mioda puts on a shocked face, with exaggerated wide eyes and hands in front of her mouth. 

  "Th, that kind of denial! That first-name familiarity!! It can't be!!" You blush at her assumptions and quickly wave your hands. You need to change the topic. Now. 

  "Anyway!!" You pause for a second, thinking of anything. "Um! Mioda! Why not have Mikan feed you? She's a nurse after all, right?" You look at Mikan for support, and she nods with a blush. 

  "Sure! It's n, no trouble; I'll even make sure to feed you a healthy and hearty breakfast." She puts her hands together, touching the tips of her fingers. You look down at your mostly empty plate. You're thankful she didn't see the mound of junk food you had just inhaled. "A balanced meal in the morning is essential to keep your health and wellbeing." Mioda touches the tips of her index fingers together and smiles nervously. 

  "Um... Even though Ibuki thinks that Mikan is just as Super Cute as [Name], something tells me she won't let me eat sweets." Mikan puts on an expression that you're sure you had not a moment ago. Behind jagged bangs she wears a quivering smile and the brightest blush. 

  "S, S, S, Su, Super Cu, Cute?????" Her hands start to flutter everywhere as if she forgotten where to put them. Her eyes dart around, too shy and unable to look at Mioda directly but also thinking it would be rude not too. She begins sputtering "Thank you!"s and things like "I'll never forget this!" You and Mioda gush at how cute she is. You giggle at her reactions as Mioda attempts to feed Mikan. You take the chance to escape and discard your plate. There doesn't seem to be a place to return plates and trays, and if there is you don't really see it. Additionally, this isn't plastic, so you can't just throw it away. Well, this reality isn't real so maybe you could... No, shut up; thinking like that is a slippery slope. 

  You enter the kitchen, hoping to place your plate in the sink or some dish washer. You successfully locate the sink, but your attention is taken by the short, plump cook in the corner. He's turned around, and he hasn't seemed to notice you yet. He seems to be rummaging through the refrigerator, but you have no idea what he's doing. You make an effort to creep over to the sink without him noticing, don't want another miscommunication like earlier... only worse. With his personality, there is no way he won't assume the worse (or best, in his case). Feelings of success ripple throughout your body before accidentally setting your plate down a little too loudly, causing the cook in question to spin around. His expression becomes predictably perverse at the sight of you. 

  "Ah, good morning Miss [Lastname]~!" The ends of his lips curl and his eyebrows seem the raise to ungodly levels. You grow stiff and uneasy. 

  "Good morning, Hanamura..." You force a smile. 

  "I'm sorry if my presence here is misleading," he starts, absentmindedly swinging around a carrot with his words, "but I'd like to clarify that I didn't put together that atrocious show of the culinary arts that you see outside." His face scrunches, making lots of ugly creases and lines. For a moment you wonder if you ever look like that. "It's quite mysterious for that food to just appear though," he starts, resting his chin in his hand in thought. "I was curious and began rummaging through the ingredients, condiments, spices, and the tools in the kitchen." You furrow a brow, not knowing what he's trying to get at. He closes his eyes and nods. "That's right, I've discovered something very strange, something that may even be a clue as to what's going on here." He's leading you on. He's not telling you what he's found out, and he's baiting you to ask him 'What?'. You roll your eyes. You're not gonna fall for something stupid like that. He notices your lack of response. "Huh? Don't you wanna know? Aren't you at least a bit curious? Or maybe, could it be that you already know about it??" He shakes the insecurity away and clenches the carrot in his fist. "No! It doesn't matter! I'll tell you anyway! I discovered that with the ingredients and tools here in this kitchen, it's completely impossible to have cooked half the things presented on those tables outside!" You widen your eyes. Really? Is that true? That's so strange; is it something overlooked in the Neo World program? Hanamura must have seen your confusion because he starts beaming. "Ah! Yes!! I've impressed you with my amazing find, haven't I?" He gleefully tosses the carrot in his hand back into the refrigerator and closes it behind him with a swift kick. He skips over the counter and props his elbows on it, setting his head giddily in the palms of his hands. He looks at you expectantly. You are very slowly trying to escape. He keeps looking at you. 

  "What? Is there something on my face?" you finally ask, instinctively wiping your mouth. 

  "Come on Miss [Lastname], you're a seer, aren't you? You should know what I want..." You inch closer to the exit. "It's only fair to tell me something interesting that I didn't know before." He smiles coyly. "I mean, I told you something you didn't know, right?" You feel yourself gag a bit. Thankfully, there's a huge loophole in his statement. Also thankfully, you're right next to the exit of the kitchen.

  "Something interesting, huh?" You smile. Hanamura's eyes widen as he leans in. You see the faintest leak of blood from his nose. "Well, did you know..." You pause, letting the tension build a bit. "... That flies take off backwards?" You exit the kitchen, almost before you finish your sentence, and your timing is perfect. Just as the kitchen doors close behind you, the entrance to the hotel restaurant opens to reveal the protagonist, Hajime Hinata. Togami is the first to address him. 

  "You’re late, Hinata." He glances behind him. "And what about Souda? Weren’t the two of you together?" His expression is as stern as ever. Hinata sheepishly responds, rubbing the back of his neck. 

  "He," Hinata pauses, "ran off somewhere." He turns around, twisting his body to check if Souda happened to follow him. 

  "Jeez," you pretend, acting as if you didn't already know this would happen. "We definitely need someone to go get him." You try not to glance at Koizumi, but you might have done it subconsciously. "Um, I mean, you're not gonna let us continue without him, right Togami?" He looks at you. You can't quite tell, but you think he's trying to hide his surprise. 

  "That's right," he finally says. "We will not start talking until everyone has arrived." 

  "Ah, wait a second," Hinata interjects, looking over to the imposter. "So it was you who gathered us here?"

  "Oui!" Mioda cheerfully answers. "It seems Byakuya over there has something he wants to talk to everyone about!" Hand motions add vivacity to her words as the fork in her hand waves around with her motions. You wonder where she gets this kind of energy. 

  "What is there to talk about?" Hinata speaks slowly and hesitantly. It's like he's unwilling to participate. 

  "Isn’t it obvious?!" Owari steps up and firmly pats a fist into her palm. "It’s a strategy meeting about how to take down those monsters!" A whimper is heard across the room and the attention shifts to the source. Mikan is seen dryly swallowing whatever Mioda had previously put into her mouth. 

  "W, we can’t fight them!" she finally exclaims, wiping what seems to be whipped cream from the edge of her mouth. "They’re equipped with heavy firearms, aren’t they?!"

  "BULLETS CANNOT PIERCE SPIRIT!" immediately retaliates Nidai with an intense flexing pose. His boast startled you and a number of other students, causing a soft murmur of complaints ripple throughout the restaurant. 

  "Heey!!!" whines the voice of Saionji. "Let's just get started already!" Her smile turns rotten as her voice goes wicked. "Besides, it's probably some worthless pep-talk." Togami clicks his tongue. 

  "I’m not going to repeat it anymore." His icey eyes could pierce the little dancer. "I will not begin talking until everyone is here." There's a pause as everyone idly looks between each other. 

  "Oh fine!" exclaims Koizumi, firmly setting her hands on her hips. "[Lastname] and I will go get him then!" You're taken aback a bit. You guess it's fine, but that definitely came out of no where. "Wait here! I'll bring him over even if I have to tie him down!" She swiftly walks over to you and grabs your wrist before making her way out the door and down the stairs. Her grip is very firm, but it doesn't hurt at all. You clumsily follow her, tripping over yourself as you try to match her pace. 

  "Not, not that I mind or anything," you say, finally catching up to her speed, "but why did you bring me with you?" The two of you reach the outside of the hotel when she stops, causing you to bump into her back a little. She lets go of your wrist and turns to look at you. You feel a bit uneasy for some reason. 

  "Well, I figured your ability as a seer could help in finding him," she starts, "but honestly, I wanted to make sure Komaeda didn't do anything..." She pauses, looking for the right word. You blush before she does. "Anything disrespectful to you." Her face shows nothing but concern, and you realize how genuine she is. You smile. 

  "Don't worry, Koizumi," you reassure. "Nagito and I didn't do anything bad together, but I feel like no matter how much I say that to some people, they won't believe me." She gives a pitiful smile and pats you on the back. 

  "Don't worry, I'll take your word for it." She places a gentle peck on your forehead. An incredible maternal aura seems to emit from her in the same way a calm feeling emits from Nagito. Being around Koizumi makes you feel welcome and warm. "But if I find out that that Man did anything to you, I will personally make sure he pays for it." Wow, okay; doesn't feel very warm anymore. 

  "Um, thanks Koizumi," you say. "It's nice for you to have my back like this." She smiles and links arms with you. It takes you off guard for a second. 

  "No problem! After all, us girls have to stick together in times like these, right [Name]?" You feel your heart skip a beat. You nod. 

  "A, anyway," you start. "I don't actually know where Souda is, but my best guess would be that he's hiding in the airport if he's not wallowing in his room." 

  You and Mahiru eventually find him wallowing in his room. You're a bit annoyed because you and Mahiru went through the trouble of checking the airport first. Whatever, it doesn't matter. He had sloppily forgotten to lock his cottage door, and he screamed like a mad man when sunlight poured into his room. 

  "What are you doing in here?!" Mahiru scolds. She roughly flicks the lights on, revealing an impressively messy room. "Do you plan on living in here for the rest of your life?" Souda is wrapped in two, possibly five, blankets. He squirms and buries his face deeper the comforters. 

  "Yes!" yells the muffled voice of the mechanic. You sigh. 

  "Come on, Souda! Nothing's gonna kill anyone," you reason. He continues to squirm. Mahiru is quick to begin peeling the layers of Souda's cocoon. More screams, more cries for help. 

  "Oh shut up!! I'm taking you to the meeting with everyone else!" In this setting, you're almost afraid of how closely Mahiru resembles a mother. "You don't have a say in this!" At this point she successfully drags Souda out of his room, roughly dragging him by his bright yellow coveralls. You try to help by tugging on his sleeve, but anyone could tell all the work is done by the photographer. You're somewhat amazed at her strength and start to wonder if she's dragged people out like this before. It's not long before Souda's struggling becomes almost too much to bare. You think for a moment. 

  "W, wait a second, Mahiru," you say, out of breath. "May, maybe I can't reason with him." Souda seems to relax a bit at your words, but he doesn't stop trembling. Mahiru considers it, loosening her grip. Souda doesn't say anything, but when you look him in the eyes you can tell that he's holding back tears. "Souda... are you afraid the Monobeasts are gonna kill you?" He nods. "Are you afraid someone's gonna kill you?" He nods. "I have a prophecy for you, as the Ultimate Seer. If you continue to act as yourself, if you don't do anything to directly retaliate Monokuma or the Monobeasts, if you participate in the school trials, you will survive this ordeal 100%." Mahiru looks at you and then back at Souda. His lip is quivering. 

  "Rea, eally?" he asks, voice cracking. You smile and nod. "Okay." He straightens his back, and more calmly follows as you and Mahiru tug on his sleeves. Mahiru leans to you and puts up a hand to cover her mouth. 

  "Is what you said true?" she whispers. You smile. 

  "Of course!" you answer, not whispering. "Everyone is coming out of this alive. There's no way that won't happen." The red head looks at you for a moment before letting out a breath and smiles. 

  "Jeez, with that kind of confidence..." her eyes meet yours, "I guess I have no choice but to believe you." For a moment, your heart pangs and you can't meet her gaze.  

  "Have we kept you waiting? We brought him!" Mahiru announces when the three of you enter the restaurant. Heads turn as Souda sheepishly makes his appearance to everyone. He steps up and waves; his eyes dart across the room, as if looking for an escape. His sharp teeth peek through a nervous smile as he rubs the back of his neck. His eyes finally find a place on the floor. 

  "Ehh, sorry for that, guys," he manages to say. You and Mahiru look at each other with a sense of accomplishment. He takes in a breath to continue, but something interrupts him. 

  "KYAAAA!!" rings the voice of Mikan. 

  "KYOOH!!" simultaneously rings the voice of Mioda? You and everyone else quickly make way to the source of the voices and examine the scene. In the game, Mikan had fallen by herself in an unfortunate (or fortunate, depending) position. Now, both her and Mioda had found themselves tangled in unconventional poses. Mioda's left leg and Mikan's right leg are tied tightly together with what seem to be wires of microwaves and toasters as Mikan straddles the musician with an arced back. Mioda's right leg is raised between Mikan's thighs, raising her skirt enough to get a clear view of both of their panties. Mioda's hair seems to have wrapped around the nurse's wrist in such a way that makes it difficult to withdraw. Mikan's other hand is pinning Mioda's by the forearm. And along with all of this, fruits, salt and pepper shakers, and napkins are scatted about the scene. Everyone's chatter overlaps each other as they all try to comment on the unbelievable scene. 

  "Hawa.. Hawahawawa!!! I'm so sorry!! I fell on Ibuki and I can't get up!!" Mikan cries. As she does, she squirms helplessly, making the scene even more perverse. 

  "Th, that goes a bit beyond 'falling!'" Hinata exclaims. You happen to be standing next to him, and for a moment you consider covering his eyes with your hands. 

  "How can you fall down and end up like that??" The impostor pushes his glasses and his hand stays just over the bridge of his nose. You think he's trying hide a blush. 

  "Ibuki watched it happen and even she doesn't know!" She giggles as she tries to wriggle out without success. 

  "Oh, oh!" sighs Hanamura. "But I am so happy! So happy!" He breaths heavily and you can even see a bit of drool coming from his mouth. You audibly hear Ibuki gag. 

  "Eew!! I'm getting ickly prickly goosebumps!!" With her free hand, Mioda points into her mouth and rolls her eyes back and continues with an exaggerated gag. You giggle a little. 

  "Noo!! It's too embarrassing! S, somebody help me!!" Mikan cries. Ibuki's expression immediately perks up and she giggles. 

  "Squee!! That embarrassed face is soo cute!!" Her free hand comes into a peace sign as she winks. "It's just too moe!! Ibuki is rendered speechless!" 

  "A, anyway, let's help her!" Mahiru declares. You, Mahiru, and Nagito are the first ones to move. You do your best to untangle the wires around their legs as Mahiru makes work out of Mioda's hair. Nagito hesitates to make direct contact with the girls and clears the floor of napkins and condiments. It's only a moment before you have the two of them back on their feet. 

  "Ts, Tsumiki, are you alright?" Nagito asks. He raises his hands in worry, ready to help her if needed. Mikan presses her hands into her face, trying to cover her blush. 

  "I, I'm, I think I'm fine," she answers with a quivering voice. "Th, that was too embarrassing, but, but thankfully Ibuki had broken my fall."

  "Mioda, how about you? Are you okay?" You reach over and pick out a stray straw sticking out of her hair. 

  "Teehee! My head might be pounding, but Ibuki is completely revitalized by Mikan's cuteness!!" 

  "But still," Mahiru comments, "that goes far beyond clumsy. The way you fell down takes some skill." 

  "More importantly," intervenes Nanami, "everyone is here now, right?" Her eyes glaze over the room as her finger hovers under her lip. "Shouldn't we begin?" Some students nod while others give disappointed glances at their unfinished meals. Nanami's posture starts to whither as a line of drool leaks from her mouth. "I've gotten tired, you see..."

  "She’s right," answers the imposter. "Loathe as I am to interrupt breakfast, it’s time to start this meeting." People begin to mingle among each other, musing what topics were going to be discussed and reflecting on very recent events. You see Nagito make his way over to you and Hinata.

  "Hey, Hinata," he starts, "Have you seen the new rules in the Electronic Student Handbook?" He retrieves his handbook and only glances at it before putting it back. "It seems this 'Field Trip of Mutual Killing' business is real." He looks to the side and sighs. "That Monokuma was serious... he really wants us to kill each other." The expression on his face seems so genuine. No one could possibly guess that he's truly ecstatic to be given this opportunity to become a stepping stone for hope. You look over at Hinata and notice he had grown distinctly paler. Nagito notices as well and raises his hands. "Ah, I’m sorry! I think my cowardice rubbed off on you!" Hinata seems to almost take offense at the comment but takes in a breath. 

  "A, anyway," he starts, but it seems he doesn't have anything to say. Thankfully for him, Togami begins 

  "First, I’d like to pose a question to you all." He looks to the ground thoughtfully, pushing up his glasses with one finger. "We’ve been ordered to kill each other by that Monokuma, but If we wish to live through this extraordinary ordeal, what do you think is of the utmost importance right now?" He looks up, grazing over the crowd before him. His eyes finally land on you, and everyone else seems to follow suit. It seems that with your title, everyone expects you to know the answer. You do, of course, but you wonder how this will affect you later on. You cough. You suddenly feel as if you were on the stage of a stadium, alone on a wooden floor in front of a wooden podium. Every shift of your weight and heavy breath seems to creak and echo. Calm down. You swallow, and the scene you imagined goes down your throat. 

 "You, you're talking about a leader, aren't you?" Everyone looks back at the impersonator, and he lets out a confirming huff. He smirks. 

  "I'm impressed, yet not surprised. You hit the nail on the head, [Lastname]." His eyes become determined as he points to the crowd. "What we need most right now is a gifted leader to be in command!" Murmurs erupt through the room again. You don't catch some of them, but most of them seem to be comments to themselves than anything else. The Togami imposter crosses his arms as he looks down on everyone, giving off a very authoritative aura. "And you will be delighted to hear that I will take on this responsibility myself," he announces. The murmurs stop, and a moment of silences passes before he continues. "And, now that we’re done with the preliminaries, we can address the main issue here." Suddenly, Mahiru steps up, pushing a few classmates out of the way to come toe to toe with Togami. 

  "Wait just one second!" She assumes an equally authoritative stance with one hand on her hip and the other pointing at Togami. He looks down at her, unamused. 

  "What's wrong?"

  "W, what's wrong?? You're being way to aggressive!" she scolds. "Don't just decide you're going to be our leader! Why should it be you, anyway?" Togami scoffs; he crosses his arms and gives a condescending look. Save for the two of them, the room is silent. It's as if everyone is enjoying the dramatic scene before them. 

  "Is there anyone more fit for the job than me?" He tips his glasses before continuing. "I’m the Super High School Level Heir of the Togami family. Since my birth, I was destined to lead." You raise an eyebrow. Togami catches your skeptical look, but you avert tour gaze. 

  "B, but! Nevertheless, your attitude is just too aggressive!" Mahiru points and accusatory finger and that's when Nagito decides to step in. 

  "Koizumi, wait a moment," he says, stepping between the two of them. "You’re right, Togami is a little aggressive, but considering our circumstances..." He puts on a calming smile. "I think to lead in a situation like this, you’d need to be somewhat aggressive. Don’t you agree?" Mahiru suddenly becomes bashful, and looks down. 

  "I guess you’re right, but," she pauses for a moment, "if we’re looking for someone born to lead, what about Sonia?" 

  "No, I would not at all be fit," Nevermind immediately responds. "My role has always been more like that of a figurehead." You look at her oddly for a moment; with her abilities, she is definitely more than a figurehead, but you decide to leave that for another time. 

  "Th, then what about [Name]? She probably knows more about our situation than anyone else," Mahiru says, directing the attention to you. You look away, but you still feel the heavy weight everyone's stare. 

  "U, uh, umm..." Your throat is dry. There is literally no way that you could accept that position. Not only are you bad at management, but you're also very clearly unable to handle the stress of attention. You look over to Nagito for help, and thankfully he seems to get the signal. 

  "Well, at the very least," Nagito starts, relieving you from the center of attention, "to even volunteer to lead in a situation like ours... that counts for something, doesn’t it?" Mahiru blushes and looks to the side. 

  "If everyone's okay with it..." She hides her hands behind her back. "Then I guess I am too." She steps back, letting the imposter to take the spotlight. 

  "So it's decided," he announces. "Don’t worry. As long as I’m your leader, there will not be a single victim." Togami points to the audience with purpose; the motion itself induces a feeling of control and confidence. "I shall lead you well. Of that I promise!" Togami was definitely an authoritative character in the game, but being here with everyone else really lets you feel how strong of an impression he gives off. Everyone else seems to feel the same as the mood in the room seems to lift a bit. A cheer is heard across the restaurant. 

  "Yahoo!! That's so reassuring!!" Mioda boasts. She throws a fist into the air as she jumps as if she had just come in first place in a marathon. You smile. 

  "Well, then. Let’s actually get to the main issue this time," Togami uncrosses his arms and readjusts his glasses. "There is something I want to show you."

  "What is it?" you hear Hinata question. Togami has already turned his back, making his way towards the exit. 

  "It’s at Jabberwock Park, over at the central island. Come, quickly!" He's out the door before he finishes his sentence. 

  You and half of the other students do your best to catch up to him; for a hefty man he has no issue moving his limbs. You take a breather right before the bridge leading to the central island, watching the impostor and his followers swiftly book it into the park. No matter how quick you normally tend to be, you decide to take your time to arrive. That wound on your side is starting to sting, and you hope it's not because you decided to take off the bandages too early. You relaxingly make your way across the bridge, appreciating angles of the world you didn't get to see in the game. Just as you cross the bridge, you notice a tuft of white hair waiting for you. 

  "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be getting to Jabberwock Park with everyone else?" You put a hand on your hip. You would say it's to seem more assertive like Mahiru, but honestly, placing your hand there relieves some of the pain in your side. Nagito offers a hand. 

  "I didn't see you following behind me after a bit." He offers a calming smile. "I was worried." Your heart skips a beat, and some primitive part of you wants to be vulnerable in front of him, to take his hand and bat your eyes. You do your best to shake this feeling off. 

  "Tha, thanks for being worried for me," you finally say. You gingerly take his hand, and the act is so embarrassing that you wouldn't mind reopening your wound to sprint away. You blush and hold in a breath. "Um, but, uh, next time you don't have to worry about me, okay?" Nagito doesn't seem to notice your reactions. 

  "Alright, let's get going then," he says as he leads you to the park, tugging you by your intertwined fingers.


	8. Future Foundation

A/N: sorry for the long wait! Enjoy~! P.s. i haven’t edited this for mistakes so if u catch something lmk

  "Bah. For a bunch of thin people, you are all hopelessly slow." You, Nagito, and Hinata are (once again) the last people to arrive. Thankfully, it seemed like the right choice to take your time as everyone else seem to be heaving from the sprint. You overhear a few complaints. 

  "A fast fatso... jeez, who'da thought?" mutters the voice of Kuzuryu with heavy breaths between his words. Owari steps up, and to the envy of many other students, she looks unaffected by the trip. 

  "So what is there to see over here?" she asks, as if the giant Monokuma countdown sphere thing hasn't manifested where the island's statue once was. Togami looks reasonably annoyed. 

  "'...What is there to see?'" he echoes. He looks to the side and lets out a frustrated sigh. "Hrmph You really haven’t noticed? Truly, a parade of simpletons." Most of the students have noticed it; it's a bit hard not to. Many of the students utter their own quiet reactions to themselves. Their amazement overlap, but you were able to catch a few of them.  

  "I see. So this is what he wanted to show us," Pekoyama says idly. Her expression is unimpressed, but she holds a hand over her eyes to block the sun. She looks a kind of cute. 

  "Whooooa! W, w, w, what’s that damn thing?! A UFO, straight down from the skies!" Mioda exclaims, standing on her toes and holding a hand over her eyes in a salute. 

  You raise your head and look at the object in question. You're much less astonished than the other students because you already know the pointlessness of it. However, you can't get over how daunting it is to see this massive black sphere held only by a single pole and decorative gears. With its height, it feels as if it's looming over you and the rest of the students, as if it could topple over and crush you. Also, it kind of hurts your neck to look at it. 

  "I guess that thing must be what Togami-kun wants to show us," Nagito says absentmindedly. 

  "It looks like a clock, but it isn’t, is it?" You look over to Hinata. To your surprise, he seems almost calm about it. "It seems that..." He pauses for a moment. "It’s counting down towards something!" Okay, now he's put a hand up to defend himself, and he's grown noticeably paler. You notice his eyebrows furrow and a slight tremble in his movements. Students continue to mutter about the clock, having similar reactions as Hinata, when Togami decides to speak up. 

  "This morning, I walked around the island again and found it," he explains. "It's unclear exactly when it was installed here." Togami looks away from the clock and towards the crowd. He looks at you and the rest of the students as if trying to asses us. 

  "It must have been Monokuma who installed it," Pekoyama states, immediately becoming wary of it. You see her purse her lips. "What does this countdown mean?" 

  "Hmm," Mioda sounds, pressing a finger onto her temples with each hand. Suddenly she looks to the side and scratches the back of her head. "Ibuki can't even begin to guess!" Students continue to mumble amongst each other. You turn to Nagito. 

  "What do you think it is?" you ask, as if you didn't already know the answer. He closes his eye for a moment, thoughtfully resting his chin in his hand. 

  "Maybe it's a countdown to a significant event?" he muses. He looks at you, as if asking for confirmation. You shrug. 

  "Could it be..." The deep voice of Nidai hesitates to continue. "A bomb of some sort?"

  "A, A BOMB?!?!" immediately screams Souda, taking a step back with a horrified look on his face. 

  "If they wanted to destroy the island, they would have done so by now," the imposter reasons. He looks to the side and pushes up his glasses. "Why bother with the flashy countdown?" There's a pause before anyone reacts. You wonder if you should tell them this countdown is pointless. How much would change from this knowledge? Would they even believe you? 

  "So..." initiates Mikan. She plays with her fingers as her eyes wave from the sphere to the students. "What is it counting down towards?" No response. 

  "... It's a mystery," Owari says, finally breaking the silence. 

  "Curiouser and curiouser..." adds an endlessly cute and childlike voice. Everyone whips their head to see the new member of the conversation, and their eyes widen at the sight. 

  "Kya!" Nevermind reacts, having found the white and pink stuffed rabbit manifested not a foot away from her. Monomi is startled by the reaction and jumps. 

  "Kyaa!!" She screams, pressing her plush paws into her cheeks. 

  "M, Monomi??" Hinata says incredulously. Shock has taken your classmates; you were a bit startled too, but a grin spread across your cheeks at the sight of her. 

  "Monomi!!" you cheer, trotting over to her with open arms. You push aside the students in your way, all of whom were staring wide eyed at your action. You fall to your knees and take Monomi into a tight hug. She lets out a cute 'oof!' when you put your weight onto her. She's so soft and oddly warm. You feel as if you could sink into her. She giggles, and you feel a felt paw patting your head. 

  "Awwh, it's so nice to see my students so happy to see me!" You pull back and smile. Something within you sparks. Even though you knew that she was totally fine after Monokuma's attack, you feel so happy to see her. You can't help but smile. 

  "I'm so glad you're okay; I had heard what happened and what you did for me," you explain. You stand up and take a step back. "Sacrificing yourself, your life... ah just, thank you so much, Monomi." You lower your head, keeping your back straight and your hands tucked near your stomach; just as you've seen it in Japanese media. You feel a bit embarrassed at the scene you made, and you raise your head. Looking at Monomi, you see her with her hand rubbing the back of her head and a bashful expression. 

  "Aw shucks," she says with a smile. "It was nothin'; I'm mechanical after all. I can't die!" She puts a paw to her mouth as she giggles. "Besides! I'd do anything to protect my students!"

  "Your timing is impeccable, though," Togami mentions, stepping up. "There is something I wanted to ask you. Answer me. What does this countdown mean?" 

  "Hoeh? Countdown?" Monomi quizzically tilts her head with a paw by her chin. The impostor gestures to the machine, looking at Monomi expectantly. "Howawa, are you talking about that thing?!" she exclaims, slapping her plush paws into the sides of her cheeks. She jumps back and starts to tremble, looking from Togami to the countdown and back again. She shrivels under the stare of the impostor and whimpers. "U, um, I'm very sorry... That's a bit difficult for me to understand..."

  "Are you telling the truth?" Pekoyama asks, speaking the though on everyone's mind. Well, everyone save for you and Nanami. "Do you really not know?"

  "I, I'm sorry," she answers. "I'm not privy to everything Monokuma is doing..." She looks down as if she were disappointed in herself. 

  "You’re his little sister, and you don’t know?" Saionji interrogates. 

  "Well, to be fair, I don't really know much of what my siblings would be doing," you add. 

  "I'm not my big brother's little sister!!" Monomi declares, raising her paws in defiance. She reclaims her composure and puts forth an energetic pose. "A, anyway! Let's figure it out together! Let's drive that meanie Monokuma off the island!" 

  "Hmph." Togami crosses his arms as he lifts his head to look down on Monomi. "If you don't know anything about this timer, you're useless. Go away." Monomi begins to whimper and mutter under her breath, touching the tips of her paws together nervously. "Go. Away." Ouch, that's a little more than a bit harsh. With that, Monomi cries an apology before disappearing in a blink of an eye. Without her magic wand, it's weird to see the bunny vanish with a strange sound effect. You look at the imposter intensely. 

  "What's your problem?" You say with a flushed face. You're making a scene, but you had always felt so bad for the rabbit in the game. She's so cute and always trying her best. Sure, the sickening sweetness is a bit much, but she definitely doesn't deserve such rudeness. "She sacrificed her lif, or well I guess, one of her lives for me!" Togami looks down at you coldly like a glare. "B, besides! She, uh, it wouldn't hurt to have her help us search the island, right?" Now, that statement had Togami thinking. He took in a breath to speak, bit hesitated. 

  "She is right!" you hear the voice of Nevermind declare. "This kind of treatment towards Monomi is uncalled for!"  

  "Miss Sonia! May I call you Miss Sonia?! I’m gonna call you Miss Sonia!" Souda loudly and needlessly interjects. "Miss Sonia is totally right! Monomi didn't do anything to us like that Monokuma!"

  "'Didn't do anything,' you say?" Togami questions. "Is she not the one telling us to forget the outside world? The one who most likely brought us all here to this island without our consent or knowing?" He lets out a huff as his words sink in. "Furthermore," he starts, directing the attention to you, "[Name] has been quite readily participating with that rabbit's actions and what not." You take a step back, suddenly feeling attacked by his words. Your fear of being suspicious has been realized, and you can't help but feel a cold sweat glazing your skin. Everyone's eyes bore into you. 

  "Uh, I, uh..." You gather your rebuttal. What do you say? Should you try to convince them that Monomi is on their side? Should you try to convince them that you're on their side? 

  "Is that bad?" Everyone's heads turn to Nagito, the source of the voice. You mentally give Nagito gracious thank yous for taking the pressure off your shoulders. You're not sure if he noticed, but he continues with a carefree smile. "Since we got on this island, Monomi, or at the time, Usami, had been a driving force of positive energy. She had even promised that we get off the island and return to our lives once we've formed bonds with each other. From that, it seems like Monomi has no ill will with us." You smile warmly. Nagito totally gets it. 

  "He's right," softly adds Nanami. She steps up, gripping her backpack with a stoic expression. "Also, based on how Monokuma treated her, we can also assume that they're not working together."

  "Geez will you guys shut up already!?" Kuzuryu abruptly exclaims. "Let’s forget those stuffed toys," he says more calmly but clearly annoyed. "The issue of this clock is far more important, isn’t it?"

  "I, it is ominous isn't it?" The imposter stutters at first, probably taken aback by the retaliation and also Kuzuryu's boast. "How could someone install that large construction in just a single night?"

   “In other words, this isn’t reality! This is the ultimate proof!” Hanamura confirms, and although he’s actually right, you and the other students give him a strange glance. Togami puts up a fist and a frustrated expression. 

   “But that’s not the only difficult thing to imagine...” The scene continues as Togami goes on to follow the script and question the strangeness of their situation. You put on a confused expression to follow them, but a small ball of giddiness boils inside you. Why does it feel so good to know all the answers? That giddiness shifts to guilt for a moment, you recognize that these kids are genuinely distressed, after all. Everyone talks amongst themselves, tossing questions and theories to each other. You decide to keep quiet. Togami finishes, “When it’s all said and done, a mystery is still a mystery.”

   “Gugigigigigi!!” Mioda clenches her jaw and makes an impressive expression. “Too many mysteries!” Mikan, who is standing next to her, giggles. 

  “True. Mysteries everywhere,” Togami echoes as he pushes his glasses up dramatically. “So many astonishing mysteries piled together, this isn’t the work of some after-school club.” You nod. 

  “I understand what you mean. Something as bizarre as this has to be the work of a large organization, right?” Your voice is soft, and you fiddle with the hem on your sleeve. “All these facilities, those Monobeasts,” you pause. “Ah, but I can’t even think of anyone with that much power and resources.” Togami glances at you before crossing his arms. 

   “I can. Severale, in fact.” He takes a breath before continuing, like he’s wondering if what he saying what he knows is a good choice. “My own family’s Togami Conglomerate,” he starts, “The kingdom of Novoselic, the Kuzuryuu Family.” Nevermind audibly gasps and takes a step back. “It must be an organization on the same scale as these.” Monomi reappears. 

   “Oh no!” Monomi jumps up, pressing her cheeks with her paws. “Putting suspicion on each other is a big no no! We should all try to trust and believe in each other!” You give her a glance that could be described as both sympathetic and pitiful. “Tee hee! I overheard some of you defending me,” she says softly, almost inaudible. She makes a sort of bashful expression, blushing. 

   Kuzuryu huffs. Putting a hand to his hip as he looks down. “I’m used to being a suspect,” he says, thouroughly ignoring Monomi. “Think what you want.”

   Before you can say anything, Souda steps up with an accusatory finger. ”Wait! You and Kuzuryuu are possibilities, sure, but I won’t allow any suspicion towards Miss Sonia!!” You and a few other students look to the side. For a moment you think you saw Nevermind attempt to hid her face. “Look at her! She’s a golden haired princess! She’s nothing like the rest of you commoners!” A loud high pitched giggle interrupts his next statement. 

   “Yeah, yeah,” Saionji says, waving away Souda’s significance. “Why are the extras talking so much?” You furrow a brow. 

   “E, extra?!” Souda’s face drops and his posture stiffens almost out of disbelief. “Is she talking about me?!”

   “Those clothes you’re wearing,” she starts, her expression becoming dark and rotten as if she were looking at something less worthless than a maggot, “are you just trying to look cool because your personality is so shallow?” Monomi runs over and stands in front of Saionji. 

   “Please! Don’t say such mean thing about classmates!” she begs, putting her paws up as if to stop her. 

  Thoroughly ignoring Monomi, Saionji laughs to herself and turns to the side. “Hee hee! It’s very difficult to survive when you’re employed as a disposable extra, you know.” A flip switches inside you. 

  “Hiyoko Saionji! What the hell are you doing?? There is no point in being a horrible little shrew right now!” You raise a fist in frustration but not in any way that could be seen as a motion to hurt her. “Can’t you see how serious this is?” She’s shocked at your retaliation, but quickly plasters a face to refute. Her eyes narrow and her cheeks puff up like she’s stuffing her mouth with unspoken words. It seems like she wants to say a lot of things right now, but the only thing she lets out is a pout. She looks away with crossed arms, and you think you catch a glimpse of a tear. Monomi tries to console her. Oh. Suddenly, you feel bad.

  “Hey, [Lastname]?” Hinata says, interrupting the scene. “What do you think? Is there really a powerful organization behind this? Could Togami’s or Sonia’s families really be involved..?” Togami turns to listen in, probably interested in what you would say.

   “U, uhm...” You put a finger to your chin for a moment and close your eyes. You wonder if it would matter if you told everyone about Future Foundation. The organization didn’t exist before their memories cut off, so no one would react to it. You look at Togami, trying to gauge how he could change his actions based on new information. “I, I hesitate to say it because it’s only a vague idea...” You notice everyone turn to give you their attention. Of course they would; you’re saying something really important, after all. But you still feel the pressure of their eyes, like beams of light slowly burning your skin. You swallow. “I, the, um, the spirits keep saying a sort of phrase, I guess. It’s not like a phrase, really; it’s like a title, I guess?” You stumble over your words stupidly. You grow warm and embarrassed. “A, anyway! I just realized that it might actually be a name of some sorts,” you lie. “It’s probably a name of an organization. They, er the spirits, keep saying ‘Future Foundation.’” 

  “...” Monomi looks at you with a blank expression before quickly leaving the scene. It doesn’t seem like a lot of people noticed, but you notice Nanami putting on an uneasy face. 

  “Future Foundation, huh...” Togami mumbles, bringing a hand to his chin in thought. “I’ve never heard of such an organization before, but I can’t therefore say it doesn’t exist.”

   “If Future Foundation has the power to do something extravagant like this, it’s hard to believe that we haven’t heard of them before, right?” Nanami mentions, seeming normal as ever. 

   “Even if this ‘Future Foundation’ organization does exist,” Pekoyama muses, “for what reason are they doing this to us?” 

   “Well,” you start, trying to move the scene faster, “our student handbooks say that we’re free to investigate the island, right? M, maybe...” Ah, you don’t want to lie and say that there could be clues when you know for a fact that there are none. Thankfully Togami cuts in, pointing a finger in a determined sort of pose. 

   “There must be a clue here somewhere. We have no time to waste.” The other students seem to gain a bit of enthusiasm at his words. “We have to search as if our lives depend on it.” It seems like Togami, no, the ultimate imposter is exactly the kind of leader for this kind of situation. 

  The scene continues excitingly but messily. Teenagers converse overtop each other, some talking too quietly or too loudly. You can’t help but think about all the conveniences of experiencing it all first through a visual novel. After a moment of conversational chaos, the students quiet down before Togami gives a final word on the situation. You’ve seen it before, but hearing it from his mouth makes it feel a much more intense. He won’t tolerate something as foolish as murder, huh. You can’t help but reflect on that for a moment. 

  “So,” Nagito starts, turning to you and Hajime with a smile, “just like Togami said, let’s go do whatever we can without letting unneeded thoughts come into our heads!” He gives a slight wave, as if to brush away any stray worries. “This is certainly a bad situation, but it’s still not the worst!” He turns to everyone else, almost excitingly. For some reason, you start smiling too. “I mean, we’re not alone. We’re friends, no, more than that, we’re comrades! We’re all in this together!” 

   From a distance, Saionji huffs. It’s strange, at this point of the game she’d say something like “That’s so lame and sappy!” Is she holding herself back? Is it because of you? You decide to take her place. You lightly nudge Nagito with a smile. 

  “J, jeez... isn’t that a little embarrassing?” Nagito looks to you and blushes. Surprised by his blush, you blush too. “You’re not wrong, but comrades?”

   “Ahaha, of course.” He rubs the back of his neck bashfully. “I thought so myself.”

   “Yahoo!! It’s time to investigate, comrades!!” Mioda excitingly announces, jumping and pumping her fist. With her outburst, the cast slowly starts to disperse. A few students paired off to investigate together, like Nidai and Owari or Mikan and Mioda. It takes you a moment to realize that at this point, the game is branching off to your first Free Time Event! At this realization your heart jumps and a smile blooms on your face. Excitingly you look over to your side. You notice Nagito and Hinata already making their way out of Jabberwock Park. You quickly jog over to join them. 

   “Hey!” you call, catching up to them, “where do you guys think you’re gonna investigate first?” Nagito is the first to respond, smiling carefree like he does. 

   “I think I’m going to go back to the beach. If I remember correctly, there was a strange machine on one of the palm trees; I think I’d like to check that out a bit more.” Ah, Nagito looks so pretty. The sun shines onto his face and he almost seems to glow, radiating a serene feeling. Even the sound of his steps along the wooden flooring of the bridge seem pleasant to you. Before you realize it, you find yourself blushing. 

   “A, ah! I see,” you say, a little too abruptly. “W, what about you, Hinata?” He blinks before audibly thinking for a moment. 

  “Um, Well I guess I’ll head back to my cottage for a moment,” he finally answers. “I might meet up with you later.”

   “Ah, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea actually. I might do the same.” The three of you reach the first island, and Nagito branches off to explore the beach area as you and Hinata continue walking to the hotel. As you walk, Hinata speaks up. 

  “So,” he awkwardly starts, somewhat dragging his vowel a bit. “Um, is it just me or did you and Komaeda very suddenly become closer with each other?” You almost stop in your tracks. Immediately, your cheeks become warm. Looking over at Hinata, you can see his face get a little pinker as well. “I, I mean, it’s probably none of my business, really. B, but you know! Uh...” His hand goes up to rub the back of his neck as he looks to the side. Seeing such a bashful side of him almost surprises you; was he characterized like this in the game? You can’t help but giggle at him and feel the urge to tease. With a coy smile you lean forward a bit. 

   “What’s this?” you say in a sing-song tone. “Could it be that you’re jealous?” 

   “Wh, what?!” His face becomes redder. “I, I see... so you and him really are...” His silence makes your face become redder too. 

   “H, hey! D, don’t just go assuming things so suddenly!” You quickly look away and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Hinata offers a sort of weary smile. 

   “Sorry, I guess.” He looks at you for a moment before looking forward. “Um, you know, it’s pretty obvious how you feel about him.” Huh?! Where did that come from?! Your head whips around to look at him and your eyes almost bulge out of your face. Your heart might as well audition for band because it’s pounding like the loudest drum. 

   “I, I...” You don’t know what to say. Hinata chuckles. 

   “Ahahaha.. Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it.” He smiles at your reaction. Is he getting a kick out of this? “But I’ve seen you smile and stare at him a few different times now. It’s, um,” he pauses, looking for the right word, “it’s pretty cute.” Your face deepens in shade as you fiddle with the collar of your shirt. Maybe if you pull your shirt over your head you won’t have to face this conversation. What do you do? Do you deny or avoid the topic? Confirming is definitely out of the question, especially since you have no idea if you really do have those kinds of feelings for him. You care for him, but...

  “...” You can’t bring yourself to say anything. God; when did Hajime Hinata become so intuitive with this kind of thing? Was it really that obvious? “Th, thanks, I guess,” you mumble. Hinata smiles at you, but you look to the side to hide your face. The rest of the walk back to the cottages is silent. 

 

   Finally, you back in your cottage, or  rather, Nagito’s and your cottage. With Nagito out, you have the chance to do something. You close the blinds on the window and stand by the bed. You turn to face the camera directly. 

  “Um, if anyone’s listening,” you call. “If anyone’s listening, I’m [Name] [Lastname], and this is a message for Future Foundation.”

A/N: upupu what’s gonna happen? What do you think will happen? What will our protagonist say to future foundation? What will Hajime do? Knowing about our protagonists feelings... let me know what you think

As you see, the next chapter’s gonna have some FREE TIME EVENTS~!! And because i have a few ideas i can’t choose from, i’ll let you guys choose! Choose whwho to spend your first free time event with!

edit- just added descriptions and uncovered the options ^^

a) Mikan and Ibuki! (Bonding route - in which you strengthen your bonds with your friends.)

b) Teruteru! (Convincing route - in which you may try to befriend teruteru in hopes that he will not start the killing game anymore)

c) Monokuma (Threatening route - in which Monokuma sees you trying to contact future foundation, and formally lies down some rules for you )

d) Ultimate Imposter (Confrontational route - in which he overhears you contacting future foundation, and confronts you immediately)

after the first fte there’ll be another one with komaeda don’t worry. (Also komaeda isn’t any of the choices above lmao) thanks so much for reading!!


	9. Kiss of Despair

A/N: the winner of last chapter’s poll was Monokuma!! Thanks for reading and please enjoy the chapter~!

   “Ahg it’s, um, a little awkward w, when I can’t hear you...” You clear your throat and gather your confidence. “Ahem! Either way! Hello! I am [Name] [Lastname]!” You announce. A short moment passes before your confidence fades. “Ah, but you, um, probably already know that... Anyway, I don’t know if anyone is watching, or if anyone is going to watch this later, but if you are, I need to inform you of my current situation.” You need to let them know that you’re not part of their world; you need to let them know any information that could help them and help you. “I, I’m not sure if Usami told you, and I don’t think she can anymore, but I need to tell you! I’m not some sort of bug or glitch,” at least you don’t think so, “so please don’t try to find a way to delete me. I’m definitely real, and I can definitely help with the Hope Restoration Project.” You lower your voice a bit when saying the title. You’re not sure why you do, it’s not exactly something that Monokuma doesn’t already know. “I, um, I know I seem really suspicious, and honestly, even I don’t know how I got here. But everything I’m saying is the truth! The truth sounds fantastical, but so is everything that’s happened to everyone in this universe the past few years...  
   “So here’s the truth.” You hesitate. This is so weird, you wonder if Future Foundation will believe you or not. You shake your head of those thoughts; that’s not important right now. “The truth is that I’m not even a part of your universe. It’s bizarre, but it’s the truth. I happen to come from a universe where almost everything that happens in this universe is featured as a video game series.” God, you feel so idiotic saying it out loud. “That’s why I know how everything is going to play out, how everything has played out for the 78th class of Hope’s Peak Academy a, and about Junko Enoshima.” For some reason, saying her name out loud in this situation felt like a curse. “I, uh.” You realize that so far, you’ve only provided information that Enoshima herself would know. A part of you starts to worry that they’ll think you’re working for her. “I’ll, I’ll tell you about Junko Enoshima’s ultimate goal is for this killing game.” You take a moment to recollect the information in a summarization. “Um, because Monokuma is set as a ‘teacher’ in the Neo World’s programming, Enoshima is unable to directly interfere with the students because of the rules. That’s why she had to start the killing game, because she couldn’t kill them herself. The reason she wanted the 77th class to die is so her AI can take over their bodies.. and...” You think for a moment. In retrospect is so stupid; how did she even plan to spread her AI to other people? Gah, who cares. “And her plan is to eventually take over the bodies of everyone else in the world to create, as she called it, ‘Junko Land.’” You put your fingers up in air quotes as you said it. You were about to continue on to tell the camera about the events that happen in the Side Future of the Danganronpa 3 anime, but as you open your mouth, a familiar voice speaks up.   
   “Upupu? How interesting! It seems like you’re even more interesting than I thought.” Your head whips around to see the source of the voice. There, standing not three feet tall, is Monokuma. His paws cutely held near his mouth. “Oh and by the way, I already turned that camera off before you finished telling Future Foundation about my plan, upupupu!” You click your tongue. You narrow your eyes at him. He notices you grow hostile and takes a step back. “Hey hey hey! No need to get violent; don’t you remember how that turned out for you last time?” He tilts his head and eyes your side, and for a moment you feel your wound sting.   
   “W, what do you want, Enoshima?” Your stance becomes slightly defensive, spreading your legs a bit and holding a fist close to your chest. Monokuma’s smile seems to widen.   
   “Upupu... well, first of all, if you prefer to call me that, then maybe it’d be better to approach you like this...” Suddenly, you feel a strange shift in space and reality, and Junko Enoshima appears before you. Startled, you let out a yelp and jump back, almost tripping over yourself.   
   Enoshima, in the briefest of descriptions, is stunning. Whether or not you were interested in fashion divas or gyarus, it is undeniable that Junko Enoshima is blindingly beautiful, almost to the point where you could understand how people so easily fell for her charms. Her face is perfectly symmetrical, not that that would be something you’d notice, but it somehow stands out. Her skin is infinitely flawless to the point where you wonder if she even had pores at all. The curve of her eyes, the curl of her lips, the sculpt of her nose, everything about her screams ethereal beauty.   
   “I, uh, y, you...” you reasonably have difficulty forming words.   
   “Upupupu! Has my beauty rendered you speechless?” She asks, smirking and holding herself confidently. Her hands perfectly rest on her hips. You can’t help but wish that you looked even a little bit like her. Immediately her expression shifts, wilting like an overly ripe flower. Her fingers entangle themselves in her hair as she speaks with a dispirited tone. “How depressing... it’s so hard being pretty... and all I wanted to do was introduce myself...” You’re taken aback by her tonal change, but you really shouldn’t be.   
   “Th, there’s no need to introduce yourself. You, you’re Junko Enoshima, the Super High School Level Despair..” You try to gather your confidence. “Wh, what do you want?” you repeat.   
   “Jeez... what a pain....” She starts to comb through her hair with her fingers, which is pointless anyway because there isn’t a single tangle in her perfect hair. “I thought I’d show myself... to make you feel better... I’m so worthless.....” Then you blink, and suddenly Enoshima shows herself with glasses and a single ponytail. Her posture is nothing less of elegant, holding a clipboard in one hand while pushing up her glasses with another. “Now, it is quiz time, class,” she says with a formal tone. “First question, what is it that I, the esteemed Junko Enoshima, want from [Name] [Lastname]?” She pauses, waiting for you to answer. You’re a bit dumbfounded; there’s no multiple choice like in the games. What could she possibly want you to say?  
   “B, because I, uh, you want my information..?” You know that it’s not true. There’s nothing that Junko Enoshima wants more than to be surprised at unseen developments.   
   “I’m so sorry, class, but it seems like you got it wrong.” She puts up her finger and wags it in a sort of ‘tisk tisk’ movement. “Would you like to try again?”   
   “N, not really,” you hesitantly answer.   
   “J, jeez! It’s n, not like I wanted you to answer anyway, i, idiot!” Her eyebrows furrow delicately as a fake blush spreads across her cheeks. The clipboard and glasses are gone and her hair reverted back to pig tails; it’s so bizarre to see this happen in person. In the game, she had separate sprites for each persona, but now you can see her person actually morph into these personalities. It’s a little off putting. In less than a blink of an eye her appearance shifts and so does her entire tone. “I just thought! You know, that I’d sorta help you out! N, n, not that I’d care about you or anything..” She curls a lock of hair in between two of her fingers in a fake nervousness. You try to ignore her performance.   
   “Help me out? What do you mean?” You don’t know where she’s coming from; what can she possibly do to help you? It’s impossible that she has something to blackmail you with, right? You’re literally from a different universe; it’s completely impossible for her to have any sort of edge against you here. Right?  
   “W, wow.. I can’t believe this!” She holds her hands to her chest and clenches her eyes shut. Her fake blush flushes more. “Y, you’re really going to make me say it, huh? I, idiot! I’ll do it, but j, jeez!” You’re starting to grow tired of her acts. No, it’s actually more like you’re exhausted. It’s probably not because she noticed that, but she reverts back her original personality. “At first I, like, totally didn’t believe you at all. With the whole ‘another universe’ speel? But then you showed that you totally do know how everything turns out; not only do you know about Future Foundation, but you also know about me and my ultimate goal. Heck, you definitely know about, like, who the killers and victims are gonna be, huh? So, like, I was thinking. This totally means that you really are from another universe where people see our universe like some sort of fanservice anime.” Suddenly, Enoshima holds her face in her hands. Her eyes narrow in a perverse way, and drool leaks from her mouth. “Kyaa~! And I was thinking~.. That’s totally a completely new and untapped ocean of despair~!!” She lets out a gross giggle, almost close to a hyperventilation. A cold feeling climbs up your back.  
   “Y, y, you…” Is she saying that she’s going to kill you, take your body, and then spread despair in the real world? “Y, you..” You can only barely make out words.   
   “Now class, here’s another pop quiz.” Your heart is pounding something horrible. “What is the reason that I started the killing game in the Neo World Program?” You level your breathing and try to answer her.  
   “Th, the reason.. It’s because you couldn’t interfere with the students directly,” you reply. “B, because you can’t defy the island rules.”  
   “Very good, class.” You can’t help but hyperfocus on her mouth as she speaks. What is she going to say next? You see the gleam of her gloss as her lips shine with every vowel and consonant. You feel as if you’re in a trance. “Now class, think hard for this one. What are you?”  
   “I’m, I’m…” That’s right. You remember your conversation with Monomi earlier, before Monokuma arrived. You suddenly feel a trembling in your knees, and you start to sweat. In the old lodge, the only reason why Usami could talk about the Future Foundation and the Neo World Program with you was because you’re not considered a student in the program. You’re not a student. That means that Enoshima could kill you, and it wouldn’t be considered breaking the rules. You feel like you’ve suddenly run out of air. With widened eyes and a manufactured smile, you utter, “I’m so fucking dead.”  
   “KYAAHAHAAHAHHAHAH!” Enoshima’s expression becomes berzerker, showing off intense eyes and a long tongue. She crosses her arms in front of her in a familiar pose, holding down her middle and ring finger for a sort of rock-on motion. “You feel that crazy despair festering?! It’s such a cocktease isn’t it!?”  
   “W, wait!” Is, is this really how this story is going to turn out? Junko Enoshima is just going to kill you? She’s just going to kill you and take over your body in the real word? “Y, you-”  
   “I can’t do this~?” She interrupts with an overly cutesy voice. She holds her hands close to her mouth and tilts her head slightly. “Teehee! You’re soo cute~!” For some reason, you have difficulty staying still. Your knees shake worse than any time you’ve ever stood on stage. Your heart pounds like it’s trying to break out and escape. “In fact, I think you’re so adorable that I just might give you a chance at living!!”   
   “Huh?”   
   “I’ve found your existence here in the program to be really interesting,” she says, returning to her original personality. “And I’m, like, always up for anything that could, ya know! Shake things up a bit!” Your heart starts to relax. So she’s not going to kill you; that’s a relief at least. “But like, I was thinking. I totally can’t just let you freely spout things to the other students. It’s no fun to just, like, spoil who the killer is, ya know?” She closes an eye and puts a hand on her hip. “So here’s the deal: I promise not to kill you unless you totally ruin the fun, okay? And you gotta make things really interesting, got it?”  
   “...” You don’t even know how to respond. She promises that she won’t kill you? It’s still really unsettling that has the ability to whenever she wants. She could probably do it on a whim, like some quick gag. You definitely wouldn’t put it against her to do something like that. “A, add that to the school rules.”  
   “Hm?”   
   “I said, add that to the school rules.” You do your best to seem confident, straightening your back a bit and tightening your jaw. “It’s uh, a security measure.” Enoshima crosses her arms.   
   “Oh but of course~” She narrows her eyes at you, and for a moment you feel as if you could collapse at her stare. Then her expression relaxes into a coy smile. “Well that was what I wanted to help you out with, after all.” She giggles, and you furrow your brow. This is… A weird situation, to put put it simply. There’s an awkward pause as she uncomfortably stares at you. You can’t be sure, but she’s probably using her Ultimate Analysist abilities. You swallow, and try to break the tension.   
   “So, is there anyth-“  
   “You’re in love with him, aren’t you!” she happily interrupts. You hitch a breath, and suddenly your cheeks become tomatoes. You look at her wide-eyed. Is there a point in denying her? If the Ultimate Analytical Prowess came to this conclusion, how can you possibly deny? “Upupu! No point in denying, Miss [lastname]!” D, damnit! “I see everything that’s going on in the island. I even saw you imagining his touch in the bathroom, ya know~”   
   “Gn!!” You can’t help but react to that. You bit your lip from letting any incriminating words slip out. Your brow furrows and you notice that your ears have become significantly warmer.  
   “Hmhmhm~” Enoshima starts to take a few steps towards you. You stiffen up, unsure what she has planned. Her heels seem to echo on the floor with the only accompaniment being the staccato of your racing heart. Standing less than a foot away from you, she leans in to shorten the distance even more. You hold a breath. Wh, what’s she doing? Your brain can’t even process what’s happ-  
   You feel a pair of infinitely soft lips pressing against yours. You feel a hand on your waist and another one pushing your head into the kiss. Her lips sucks on yours, lightly nipping at your skin. You can’t help but think about how good this feels. Your mind can only barely figure out what’s going on, but when it does, you immediately shove her off. You stare at her with a baffled expression as she smiles at you. Your breath comes back to you, but it’s erratic and heavy.   
   “Upupupu~! How despairingly delicious!” Junko Enoshima rests a hand on her cheek as she licks her lips. “You just kissed the person that the person you love absolutely fucking hates!!” Your shaking hand comes up to touch the lips. You look at your fingers and see a slight gleam of lipgloss. You look back at Enoshima.   
   “...” you open your mouth to say something, but you had nothing to say. You don’t know what kind of expression you had on, but her smile widens at the sight of it.   
   “No way, no way!” She laughs. “I can totally tell! That was your first kiss wasn’t it?! Upupupu! Having your first kiss stolen by your love’s most hated... How beautifully full of despair~!” You’re left dumbfounded, completely unable to react to the situation. It doesn’t even matter whether or not she’s right about this being your first kiss because you can barely register what just happened. Enoshima, seemingly satisfied by her chaos, takes a step back with a content smile. “Welp! Thanks for your time, Miss [Lastname]! Bye-o-nara!” She turns her back to you and then turns her head a bit, just enough for you to see her move her mouth. “Don’t forget to make things interesting.” And with that, she disappears, the only trace left behind being the imprint of smeared lipgloss on your mouth.   
   You loudly let out a breath of air. Your knees give way, and you collapse onto the ground. Your hand goes to clutch your chest; you can practically feel your heart swelling from the tension. Does your face look as hot as it feels? You look back at the camera in the room, wondering if it’s been turned back on or not. All you wanted to do was to tell Future Foundation what’s going on. You wonder how much of your message was received by them. You wonder if they saw anything. You kind of hope they didn’t. What are they thinking of you now?   
   You don’t know how much time had passed, but a strange ‘ping!’ from your pocket knocks you out of your trance. Retrieving the electronic student handbook, you notice new rules has been added.   
   “Rule #12:  
   “[Name] [Lastname] can not directly tell, or otherwise inform in any way, the students about unseen developments without solid and physical evidence.   
   “Rule #13:  
   “[Name] [Lastname] will not be executed or otherwise directly interfered by the lead teacher unless she has broken any of the previous or future rules.”  
   Well, as much as you’re relieved that you won’t be executed, a new worry easily arises. What the hell are the other students going to think about you when they see these new rules? These rules address you directly by name; how can that not be suspicious? Will they think you’re the mastermind? Or maybe the traitor? You lose track of time asking yourself these pointless questions. You try to level your heartbeat. You level your breathing and stand back up. There’s nothing to do now. It’s better to be suspicious like this than to be so easily executed. With that thought to reassure you, you gather your confidence and you go to exit your cottage. Just as you open the door, you come face to face with Nagito Komaeda, and you practically jump out of your skin.   
   “Kya! Na, Nagito! Y, you totally startled me..” You put a hand to your chest and let out a sigh. He offers a carefree laugh, his hair bouncing with the motion.   
   “Sorry, maybe I should’ve knocked.” You step to the side, and he lets himself in. “I was getting a little worried, you were in our cottage alone for a while now.” He turns to look at you; you notice his eyes linger on your lips for a moment. You reflexively look away and cover your mouth with your hand. “Hm? Are you okay? Actually, it might be a bit strange if you weren’t feeling unsettled in our current situation.” He kind of laughs awkwardly, trying to relieve a bit of the tension. You kind of laugh too. A moment passes without either of you talking. You purse your lips and furrow your brow. Is he not going to bring up the elephant in the room? Everyone must have seen the added rules, right? You’re actually a bit surprised that there aren’t more people hunting you down for answers. Maybe you should be relieved at their dismissiveness.   
   “What about you? I’m sure this situation can’t be easy on you either,” you ask, soon realizing that he has definitely been in more immediately dangerous situations. “Well um, anyway, you hung out with Hinata, right? How did that go?”   
   “Ah! That reminds me actually.” He raises his hand and you notice for the first time a bowl of shaved ice. “Right before we parted ways he handed me this wonderful gift,” he says with a smile. You recognize the item as Viva Ice; the spoon contains lottery numbers. If you win, you get more shaved ice. “However, I’m not really a big fan of sweets,” he smiles at you before continuing, “so I figured that I could share this with you.” He holds the spoon, fiddling it between his fingers.   
   “Y, yeah, that sounds awesome!” Anything to get the strange scene from earlier out of your mind. You think that, but at the same time you can't help but worry about seeing other students right now. “Come on, let's eat it over here.” You lead Nagito into the cottage, and you take a seat on the floor next to the coffee table. You wonder if the other students have seen the new rules. You wonder if Nagito has seen them. Your attention is interrupted by a spoon, waving in your vision. Looking up, you realize Nagito has taken a seat across from you.   
   “[Name]? Are you okay? You’re really seeming out of it.” He furrows his brow in concern, and a warm feeling blooms in your chest. Ah, he’s so nice to be worrying about you. “If there’s anything you need to talk about, I don’t mind listening, you know.” He smiles carefreely, somehow soothing your the sharp edges of your worries. You look away. With the way he’s acting, could it be that he (and possibly the other students) haven’t seen the new rules?   
   “Hmm, I’m not sure…” You think for a moment. “Ah actually, Nagito? Could I see your electronic student handbook for a moment?” He gives you a puzzled look before quickly complying. For some reason, his handbook feels cold and heavy in your hands.  
   “What is it?” You flip through the menu options and find his list of the Killing School Trip Rules. What you see makes you let out a small gasp.   
   ”..!” His handbook didn’t get the new rules. Was this Enoshima’s doing? Was this a favor to you? Perhaps to relieve you of some suspicion? No that’s impossible; she would do anything to stir up some drama. You find yourself at a loss of a cohesive explanation, so instead of trying to tell Nagito, you just hand him your handbook with the new rules on display. His eyes scan the rules and then narrow.   
   “How strange… what could this mean?” he muses. “I would assume Monokuma came and talked to you.. or maybe someone else?” He looks up at you, and you avert your gaze. “Ahaha, I guess you can’t tell me, huh?” His eyes reread again before closing in thought. His knuckle rests on his chin in thought.   
   “I wish… I wish I could say more.” You bite your lip. As soon as you do, you taste the remnant of lip gloss and recoil. “Ah…” You blush deeply, remembering your kiss. A part of you wants to clench your eyes shut and hide your face, but you wouldn’t forgive yourself for acting so weirdly in front of Nagito. Shaking off all the thoughts running through your head, you change the subject. “A, anyway! Tell me about your time spent with Hinata! Did he happen to remember his talent?”   
  “Unfortunately no,” Nagito sighs. He plays with the spoon, scooping and dumping bits of shaved ice. “It’s okay though. I’m more than positive that it’s going to be something amazing.”Your mouth curls into a weak smile as you remember Hinata’s talent as well as Nagito’s treatment of him after that was revealed. You sigh.   
   “Yes, it’s truly- hmph!” Suddenly your mouth is filled with brain-freeze inducing sweets. It doesn’t taste spectacular nor does it taste specifically like strawberries, but it completely occupies your sensations for moment. Your eyes trail from the handle of the spoon, to the delicate hand holding it, to the proud smile of your attacker.   
   “Be careful now,” he smiles wider, making the edge of his eyes narrow with the curl of his lips. “I wouldn’t want you to get executed because of some silly slip up.” You want to be thankful that Nagito essentially saved your life, but you can’t ignore how coy he is. Not to mention, this warm feeling spreading on your cheeks when you realize that Nagito Komaeda just fed you. He withdraws the spoon from your mouth slowly, finally leaving your lips with a quiet pop. “Sorry, that was probably a little sudden,” he says, closing his eyes in an innocent smile. “Well? Do you like the the ice?” You want to say no to spite him, but it really does taste pretty good.  
   “Y, yeah…” You manage, looking away embarrassingly. You can’t help but feel a little disgusted at yourself. Isn’t this a little too cliche? This isn’t some sort of shoujo anime; this is a killing game! Still, you don’t dislike this. You watch as Nagito gathers another spoonful and raises it to your lips. You hesitate, and then decide to ask, “Wh, N, Nagito why are you feeding me?” He retracts the spoon a little.   
   “Hm?” He tilts his head cutely, and for a moment you almost regret interrupting the scene. “Is something wrong? Is being fed by someone as lowly and worthless as I am too much for you?” You’re taken off guard by his comment, but then your lips come to a pout.   
   “I really wish you wouldn’t think of yourself that way,” you say, knowing that you kind of fell in love with that portion of his character too. Well, love is probably not the right word for it. “I, I just...” You think for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve been fed like this before. It’s...” It’s almost like you’re in a shitty shoujo anime. You can’t stop blushing, and your heart is going crazy.   
   “Do you dislike it? I read in a book that intimate interactions will strengthen relationships.” His carefree smile returns as his other hand goes to the back of his neck. “...” His eyes scan you for a moment; you feel a bit uneasy. You start to fiddle with a lock of hair between your fingers.  Your face feels warm. “Ah, I get it,” he finally says. “It’s because I’m a boy, right?” You can’t exactly deny that. Even if it were someone like Nidai you’d probably still blush. But this is different. This is Nagito Komaeda, the character of a billion admirers (probably). You should take this scene with open arms, right? There are millions of fans in your universe that would probably die for this to happen to them, so you should let this play out, right? You look away.  
   “I…” your cheeks radiate an almost sizzling hotness, “I, I guess I don’t mind it.” His expression seems to lighten and his hand raises to feed you again. At this point, a portion of the Viva Ice has melted, but you open your mouth anyway. You wonder if this is how awkward Mikan felt when you fed her. The spoon enters your mouth and the strawberry syrup spills onto your tongue. It’s incredibly sweet. 

   You Nagito spent the afternoon eating the Viva Ice. You asked him about that book he had read, and you ended up learning a bunch about the way friendships and relationships are formed. It was interesting to see Nagito Komaeda show such knowledge about it. Especially when thinking about yourself and how no scholarly information stays in your head after you read it. Anyway, looking back on it, it seems like you and Nagito’s relationship started very unconventionally. Not to mention a bunch of other factors, like how you creepily know more about Nagito than you’re letting on. Maybe it’s more creepy that the writers list out the height, weight, blood type, bust size, waist size, and hip size of all the characters in the game.   
   “You know, I’ve been thinking,” Nagito starts, stirring the remnants of melted ice and strawberry syrup at the bottom of the bowl. He looks up at you with sharp eyes; it almost startles you.   
   “Um, what are you thinking about?” you ask, trying to break his intense glare. He looks from your left eye, to your right, and then your left again. You try not to break face and stare back at him.   
   “...” A moment passes before he finally responds. “Well, I can’t really say anything for sure. I don’t want to doubt you, but…” He hesitates. “It really is suspicious to have these twelfth and thirteenth rules added onto your handbook alone.” Suspicious, huh. You guess this is to be expected. “Does someone have a grudge against you? Maybe that theoretical organization is fearful of you and your talent.” Huh? You thought that he would be more suspicious of you rather than worried for you.   
   “...” You open your mouth to say something, but you hesitate. “I uh..” You kind of want to tell him that you encountered the mastermind, but you think that even that might be something you’re not allowed to say. “I’m happy you’re worried about me,” you say instead.   
   “Hm, I see,” Nagito mumbles. You arc a brow and tilt your head. Suddenly, he stands up and goes to throw away the Viva Ice. His expression is unreadable, or maybe you’re terrible at figuring something like that out. Either way, you have no idea what he’s thinking. You stand up too. “I can tell you want to say something, but those rules are holding you back, aren’t they?” You nod mechanically. What is he trying to get at? Could it be that he actually does suspect you? You purse your lips. There’s a loud beating in your chest, throbbing actually, and it’s difficult to keep your mind off of it. He opens his mouth to say something, but a familiar chime interrupts him. The monitor buzzes to life with the figure of Monokuma lounging about holding a martini glowing inside it.   
   “Um, this is an announcement from Hope’s Peak Academy’s Field Trip Executive Committee,” Monokuma starts. “Yoohoo! It’s time for your long-awaited recreation activities!” He bounces in his seat with an almost rubber buoyancy. He giggles and gets close to the camera. “What kind of exciting activities await you bastards? It’s too late to-“ He cuts himself off. After a second of silence he continues with excitement. “wait, that’s not it. I can’t wait to find out! We realize this is getting tedious, but for now, come and gather at Jabberwock Park!”

A/N: thanks for reading!! It might be a while until the next chapter comes out, but this one came pretty quickly, right? Sorry for the sort of lackluster ending. How do you guys feel about Junko stealing a kiss?! How do you feel about Nagito feeding u shaved ice?!?! 

Pls leave a comment it’ll motivate me to write more _(´ཀ`」 ∠)_


	10. Chapter 10 wip

A/N: Since it seems like I'm consistently working on a million other projects instead of this one, I've decided to just kinda let you guys see what I've got so far. This is a google doc in which you can view what progress I've made (spoiler warning, it's not much). You're able to make comments within the doc and stuff I guess. I don't know. It's been months dude. I feel like some of you deserve at least this much ^^;

docs.google.com/document/d/1_s3DUuepDjND9SrTWFUXKyd5cnHbH0_e-ZSWCv0QgSI/edit?usp=sharing

In the mean time I'm still pretty active on my tumblr in which I'm more of an artist, so you can support me there if you'd like <3 

talentlessartblog.tumblr.com/

Thank you for your patience! It probably wasn't worth the wait ;;


	11. Chapter 10: Monokuma Big Laugh Two Man Show

A/N: Thank you everyone for waiting!! and also to those who visited my doc while i was working on it (x) BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!! I was a participant of the LUCKY Nagito Komaeda Fanzine (talentlessartblog.tumblr.com/post/173404674146/komaeda-zine-lucky-a-komaeda-nagito-zine) and you should totally consider buying it because it's filled with a bunch of really amazing artists (including me aha) and yesterday was Ko's birthday so you know. Anyway, thank you for supporting me! Sorry it's a relatively short chapter despite the long wait, but at least it's here and I still plan on continuing it ^^ don't forget to check out my work as an artist here (x)

Looking outside, you notice that the sun hasn’t gotten very low at all. Why was Monokuma already calling out to everyone? Didn’t this scene happen right before the nighttime announcement? You look over and see Nagito already making his way to the door.  
“...” You open your mouth to say something, but you had nothing to say. For some reason, you just can’t help but feel uneasy. Nagito gives you a strange look as he holds the door open for the two of you.  
Walking along the bridge to Jabberwock island, the first thing that comes to mind is how quiet it’s been. Since you left the cottage with Nagito, neither of your have said a word. It’s probably nothing. With your footsteps out of sync of each other, the two of you enter Jabberwock park. The big thing that stands out is the large colorful stage propped up at the foot of the countdown. Already here are Mioda, Mikan, Mahiru, and Togami. Togami, with crossed arms and tapping fingers, looks around impatiently. Seeing you, he immediately stares you down, obviously expecting you to approach him. You take a glance at Nagito who only offers a shrug. What does he want with you? Gathering your confidence, you make your way towards the imposter.  
“You know what’s happening,” he states. He doesn’t even ask as a question, he just declares it. You tighten your lips.  
“Is.. is that so..” You smile uncomfortably. With the rules added to your handbook, you feel anxious to say anything too revealing. Your hands find themselves fiddling with the hem of your shirt. Togami looks annoyed.  
“Well? What are you waiting for?” His glasses catch the reflection of the sun, making it gleam from your angle. It feels intimidating. “Inform me.”  
“Ah, well.” You gulp. You look over at the stage. “It looks like a stage, so maybe a show of some sort?” You smile and shrug as if you didn’t already know that everything’s been set up for Monokuma and Monomi’s two man show in which they reveal that we’ve been gone for years and that there’s a traitor amongst us. Togami definitely looks unamused.  
“You’re acting as if you don’t know,” he states. He pushes up his glasses and looks down at you. You feel yourself shrink under his glare. He clicks his tongue and looks to the side. “Whatever. Even if you don’t wish to tell me, we’ll all find out soon enough.” You let out a breath and a small apology before backing off awkwardly. With Togami still unsatisfied, you turn your heel, ready to go back to Nagito or maybe chat with Mikan. But you find yourself spinning right into Chiaki Nanami.  
“Ah!” You stumble as you take a step back, clumsily finding your balance. “S, sorry, I didn’t see you there,” you apologise, lowering your head slightly. Actually, thinking about it, why is she standing so close behind you?  
“Oh, it’s okay…. I think.” You hear a small melody. Looking down you notice the small handheld she has. It looks smooth and blue; weird, feels like you’ve seen it before. She looks up to meet your eyes. You feel a bit uneasy for some reason.  
“H, how are you doing, Nanami?” you finally say, trying to break the tension. She seems unfazed by the awkward air; is it just in your head? It’s probably because she’s almost perfectly pretty. It’s difficult to act natural around someone so physically attractive. She smiles. You feel your heart skip a beat.  
“I’m good. Hajime gave me this Funplane. It’s a game console, but it can also play music and videos too..” Her eyes seem to shine at the device in her hands. “Anyway…” Her finger lingers on a button before powering off the console and stuffing it in her pocket. “Would you like to go out with me sometime?”  
“Huh?” Her words shoot through you like an electric shock. Your face becomes a little warm as Nanami tilts her head.  
“Is something wrong? Do you already have plans?” She grips her backpack with hands that look like they could honestly belong to a porcelain doll. “Or.. Do you not want to spend time with me?” You immediately put your hands up to deny.  
“No! No, of course I’d love to spend time with you!” you clarify. “I just,” you press your hand against your cheek and look away, “I don’t know, I guess it was a little sudden, haha.” Why are you acting so bashful? More importantly, why is Nanami so suddenly interested in you like this?  
“Oh, that’s good then…….” There’s a long pause of silence before she speaks up again. “Then, come see me when you have some free time, okay?” She starts to turn around, pulling the Funplane out of her pocket and walks away. You open your mouth to say something, to ask what she wants, but you decide against it. Whatever it is, you probably want to talk about it without an audience.  
You scan the park. It looks like almost everyone has arrived, everyone save for Hinata, Pekoyama, and Souda. You look up at the sky; it’s still relatively bright.  
“The sun is only just starting to set…” you mumble to yourself. Why is this different? What happened to make this different? Why is Monokuma having this presentation so early? The sky’s hues become warm as shadows steadily grow longer and darker. This entire situation gives you a bad feeling.  
“It’s rather pretty, isn’t it?” A familiar voice interrupts your thoughts. Turning your head you see Nagito smiling and looking at you. Your brain lags for a moment before you purse your lips and look away.  
“You know, you’re supposed to look actually at the sunset when you say something like that..” Why would you say something like that? Suddenly making things awkward… You instantly regret it. His soft laugh breaks through the tension.  
“Ahaha, I’m sorry.” He slides his hand into your palm. “I guess I’m no good at understanding things like that.” The contact comes as a surprise and you immediately pull away. Your heart beats faster. Is doing something like this another thing he learned from that book about relationships? He notices your uneasiness. “Oh, sorry..” Nagito raises an eyebrow in confusion before withdrawing his hand. Why are you suddenly so embarrassed? You’ve held hands with him before when everyone was running to discover the countdown ball.  
“S, sorry, I um..” You can’t find explanations to your actions anymore. You look around, worried about drawing attention to yourself. You notice Hinata making his entrance into the park. Finding the ‘out’ that you needed, you wave to him. “Hey! Hinata, you’re here!"  
“Late again. Do I feel the wind of cowardice blowing?” Togami scoffs, catching the attention of everyone as he shames Hinata’s late appearance. At his comment, Hinata looks to the side, somewhat accepting his accusation. Murmurs of conversation dissipate at Togami’s demanding presence. He crosses his arms and takes a glance around the park. “In any case, it seems we are all here,” he says, as if he were about to make an announcement. Stray words of concern arise, a few different classmates asking what is going to happen and why this stage is here.  
Your turn your head and look over at Souda. In the game, this is the scene where Souda would complain about having to come here, and then Kuzuryu would make a threat about not being afraid to kill anyone after a small skirmish. That was the scene that starts suspicion against Kuzuryu. But Souda isn’t saying anything. Well, he looks uneasy like everyone else, but he seems different than how he seemed in the game. It’s like he’s more confident, even if it’s just a little. You’re startled as Souda turns his head to notice you staring. Oh this is a little weird, isn’t it. You offer an awkward smile and wave that he returns. You turn your attention back to the crowd.  
“What the hell does that bear want? Making us wait like this…” Kuzuryu clicks his tongue and turns his head to the side. His expression is hardened, but you think he’s probably worried like everyone else.  
“Yeah, it’s a bit weird,” you add, “everyone’s already here. Is he waiting for something?” You feel yourself become almost embarrassed at the statement, feeling silly for saying something out of place. Suddenly the lights to the stage start beaming, flashing, and grabbing the attention of all the students.  
“Only waiting for an arousing audience~!” the voice of Monokuma sings, popping out of the middle of the stage. “Thanks, Miss [lastname] for that amazing segway~! Upupupu! Can I get a round of applause?” No one gave an applause. Hinata makes his way through the crowd and next to you and Nagito.  
“Um, what’s going on?” Hinata whispers, leaning in with an almost tired expression. It seems like he and a few other students ended up doing the same thing: mumbling confusions with stupefied expressions. Turning to Hinata you offer a weak smile and a shrug. The lights on stage cease flashing, revealing Monokuma and his outfit. Nanami is the first one to speak up.  
“Hey, what’s with the outfit?” she asks, tilting her head with a spacey expression. Monokuma almost mimics that expression, tilting his head and placing a paw on his chin.  
“Ah, didn’t I say so in the announcement? This outfit is for today’s recreation time.” A blue suit with a red tie, which is honestly very ugly against his white, black, and red color scheme. Why not just wear a black suit? You let out a sigh accompanied with a furrowed brow.  
“You don’t mean...” Pekoyama cuts herself off, not quite sure how to end her statement. She puts a fist on her chest as if fearing the worst.  
“Yes! A two man comedy act, fit for a tropical island!” Monokuma raises his paws and makes clapping motions on the two sides of his head. The crowd collectively makes a confused face as the lights on stage start flashing again. This time, accompanied by annoying music. Knowing how the story progresses, you decide to speak up.  
“A two man comedy act? You’re not going to drag Monomi into this, are you?!” you yell, trying to make yourself heard over the music.  
“Upupu! You know it, Miss Ultimate Seer, you!” Monokuma claps twice. Suddenly the floor opens to allow Monomi’s plush self to pop out.  
“Waa!” She plops onto the stage, fumbling to get up after the bizarre entrance. “Howawa! What’s going on?” Monomi whimpers, squinting from the bright lights and trying to make sense of the situation. She’s dressed in a lightly colored pink and frilly dress, flourished with a flower on her chest. A number of students sigh at the somewhat expected situation.  
“Ah, I thought it would be something like that,” Nidai’s gruff voice mumbles. A moment passes before Monokuma finally decides to move the scene along.  
“We’ve dallied enough!” he announces, raising his hands dramatically. “It’s time for the ‘Monokuma Big Laugh Two Man Show!’”  
“Eh? This is the first I’m hearing of this!” Monomi says as she looks around frantically as if she were trying to find a script. She starts to whimper. “I’m going to get smacked, aren’t I?” The stage lights blaze to life, brightening the two plush animals. You squint your eyes for a second before a microphone pops out from under the stage. Familiar music starts to play as Monokuma leans in.  
“Good evening! I’m Monokuma!” The mic squeaks, causing a good portion of the audience to wince.  
“Um, and I’m Monomi…” she says, pensively leaning into the mic as well.  
The scene continues. You kind of roll your eyes. Although this scene was silly and fun when you played through it, it’s really not all that pleasant to experience. The music is loud and so is the microphone, and the lights really aren’t helping all that much either. Not to mention there’s this stock audience laughter that seems to be playing randomly throughout the act. Looking to your side, you can see that the rest of the students seem to share your opinion. Each one of your classmates have the same plastered face of partial annoyance, partial disbelief. You finally tune yourself back in as Monokuma and Monomi’s banter ends, having just revealed the stolen memory plot point.  
“Y, you really can’t do this!” Monomi cries, trying to yank the microphone from Monokuma’s range. More for fun rather than retaliation, Monokuma dramatically reals back a paw.  
“I won’t let you get away with this!” he yells, landing a hard punch right in Monomi’s cheek. Seeing this scene in the game was like seeing it as a funny exaggerated attack, but seeing it now is like watching an unglamorous one sided beating.  
“Gyaa! That’s not what they mean by ‘punch-line!!’” Monomi cries as she almost flies across the stage. She lands with a hard thud.  
“M, Monomi??” you call out in concern. Although, the tone could also been taken as betrayal. There’s no response from her or anyone else. The crowd starts to rumble, almost collectively expressing their confusion and concerns.  
“W, What’s going on?” Nagito mumbles. His is mouth left partially agape and his hands trembling slightly. Monokuma jumps off stage, and with that, the unappealing blue suit is gone.  
“Well, how was it?” he starts. “Did you laugh? Or perhaps, my comedy was too high-brow for you bastards?” A moment passes without anyone saying anything. You take glances between a few students. Their expressions are fearful and unbelieving. You try your best to seem the same.  
“Hey,” Togami says, finally breaking the silence. “What was that all about?”  
“What was what all about?” Monokuma says, tilting his head as if he didn’t know the kind of distress he’s just given the rest of the students. “Oh! You mean the ‘school life memories’ part! That’s very simple.” His paws go up to his mouth, as if he were trying to hold back a laugh. “They were all taken away!”  
Ibuki, who had been continuously been making the “huah?” sound and scratching her head, raises her voice a to Monokuma. “Hah.. Huh? This can’t be right?” She frantically looks around before settling herself a bit. “I mean, yesterday was Ibuki’s first day at Hope’s Peak Academy! And we got taken straight here right after that…”  
“Right, right,” Monokuma starts, still excitingly holding his paws near his mouth. “But the truth is, Monomi erased all of the memories of your life at Hope’s Peak Academy.”  
“W, what the hell are you saying!?” Hinata bursts. He has been unsettled since the very beginning of this trip. Looking over, you can’t help but feel bad for him. “That’s impossible!” His hand goes to cover his mouth, as if he were trying to retrace the steps in his memory.  
Monokuma starts to walk around the park, tilting his head as if trying to sleuth a crime scene. “I wonder how many years it’s been? How long have you all been students there? And what happened to your families...” He takes slight pauses in front of some of the students, staring into them, and then moving along. “And friends...?” He laughs that annoying laugh before stopping completely. “That’s one more thing to be worried about, isn’t it?” The tension seems to have reached its peak, as the students become restless, readying their rebuttals.  
“Don’t listen to him! He’s lying!!” you exclaim. Your statement, although it’s the same as what everyone else would have said, it carries a different weight with your self-proclaimed talent. As soon as the words left your mouth the crowd grows quiet, seemingly reassured by you. “S, something like that is clearly impossible. Erasing your memories? That’s obviously the kind of thing you see in science fiction stories, is, isn’t it?” You find yourself stuttering and lying through your teeth. You know what the truth is, but you take a glance at all the students… mainly Hanamura. Even if it’s not true, even if it’ll change things, they need to hear this.  
“Th, that’s right!! You can’t listen to what he’s saying!” Monomi agrees, kicking off the frilly pink dress that no doubt came from the hands of Monokuma. She trots over to your side, holding out her paws to get everyone’s attention. “If you can’t trust me, then trust Miss [lastname]!”  
“Upupu?” Monokuma faces you, his red eye giving off a slight glow. Ah, you remember reading somewhere that in his design, Monokuma’s white half represents hope, his back is despair, and the red in his eye represents his bloodthirst. “It’s very interesting that someone like you would say something like that.” You take a step back.  
“Someone like me?” you parrot. You can feel the eyes of everyone in the park paying immense attention to the two of you. Monokuma approaches you, getting close and staring into you. Is his toothy smile getting wider?  
“Do you happen to have some sort of evidence or proof to that statement?”  
“Evidence?” You suddenly remember the twelfth and thirteenth rules of the student handbook. You feel your heart beat faster. “I, uh…” You can not directly tell the students about unseen developments without evidence, and if you break any of the rules you will be executed. A cold feeling crawls through your body. Your head starts to spin. “Uhm.” You’re suddenly very focused on that red glow inside Monokuma’s eye. Bloodthirst. He’s just itching to execute you right here. “Evidence..?” Your stomach starts to churn.  
“Of course she has evidence.” A hand lands on your shoulder, practically absorbing your anxiety and fear in that moment. Nagito steps up with a confidence he actively lacked not a moment before. “I believe in her, I believe in her talent...” he says. You look over at him, and you see the look in his eyes. And you see his goal. What Nagito Komaeda is doing right now is testing your hope. He knows. He knows about the twelfth and thirteenth rules in your handbook. He knows that if you fail to come up with evidence that you will be executed, and if you die, you would simply become a stepping stone to a greater hope. “And most of all,” he continues, “I believe in her hope.” He turns to you with a smile, that crazed smile you’ve become familiar with. None of the other students seem to notice. Your feel a strange determination boil inside you. What is this feeling? A sudden determination not to die and feed into Nagito’s crazed view on hope and talent… and luck.  
“Oh? So you believe in her?” Monokuma laughs. “Upupu! How interesting! Now, let’s see that belief really pay off. What does Miss [lastname] have to say?” Monokuma backs off, as if to let you view see all the cards in his hands. Why is he dragging this out so much? If Junko Enoshima clearly knew that there was no proof against this, then she would have executed you immediately, right? So there must be something here that she wants to you see. “I want to see your proof,” he repeats. You search your brain and glance over your classmates, and your eyes fall upon Kuzuryu.  
“I’ll show you my evidence,” you say, straightening your back. “If years have passed, as you claim, then how these two not notice?” You walk over to Pekoyama.  
“What do you think you are doing?” Pekoyama mutters as you take her arm. She seems unsettled but doesn’t resist as you pull her along.  
“I’m sorry, I n, need you for a moment,” you say. You bring her along as you make your way towards Kuzuryu.  
“H, hey! What are you looking at me for?” Kuzuryu give you a threatening look but takes a step back at the same time. You let go of Pekoyama, setting her to the side of the shorter gangster before you take a step back. You turn to face Monokuma, but then stop and face the two companions before continuing.  
“I’m sorry,” you say to the two of them, more to Kuzuryu than Pekoyama. “I know you didn’t want to reveal your relations, or, or even like, act as anything other than classmates.”  
“That’s right...” Pekoyama says, more to the other students than to you. Her tone is somewhat hesitant. “We’re nothing more than classmates. Meeting everyone in the classroom was my first encounter with him.”  
“Pekoyama...” You tighten your lips. You really don’t want to do this, but with this hole you’ve dug yourself into, you have no other choice. “I’m sorry, I uh…”  
“Peko, it’s fine,” Kuzuryu says. “It’s fine. This was inevitable anyway.” He looks to the side, tightening his jaw and putting on a somewhat pained expression. Did he expect this? You suddenly remember the reason Kuzuryu ordered his relationship with Pekoyama to be nullified. He didn’t want her to see him as her master. He wanted her to simply become friends as classmates and possibly more than that. He expected this? Saying something like that, it’s like the same as saying ‘I knew we didn’t have a chance.’ You suddenly feel a pang of guilt. “After all, with a talent like hers, it’d only be a matter of time, right?” His tone is annoyed as he turns his head to glare at you. Stunned at his reaction, you shoot your eyes to the ground. You slightly bow your head.  
“I, I’m sorry.” Is he mad at you? You feel dread at the idea of the Ultimate Yakuza having frustrations at you. Your classmates start to mumble amongst each other, clearly confused at the scene. Pekoyama looks over to Kuzuryu, confused and trying to confirm what’s going on.  
“Hey, not to interrupt an important scene or anything,” Monokuma says, interrupting an important scene, “but shouldn’t we be talking about something more pressing or something?” He approaches you and puts out a paw. “Solid, physical evidence, please.”  
“They are my evidence!” you say, motioning to Pekoyama and Kuzuryu. “They have known each other for their entire lives, and if years has passed as you said, then why haven’t either of them noticed? Even if you don’t quite notice when you yourself age, wouldn’t these two realize if either of them had suddenly aged a number of years?”  
“That is correct,” Pekoyama states. “I have been by Kuzuryu’s side since the beginning. I think I would notice if he had grown older at all.” You tighten your lips at the inappropriate height joke that passed through your head.  
Relief ripples through your body. This evidence is perfect, and you feel really proud. You look over to Nagito with a smile. He reciprocates the look, and it fills you with warmth. Nagito had wanted to test you, to see your either shine with hope or die and become a stepping stone. While you didn’t want to feed into his his view of stepping stones and whatever, you can’t help but feel this confidence and pride from his approving look. You face back to Monokuma with a confident smile, almost challenging him. He looks at you straight on, and you can’t tell what kind of expression he’s trying to convey at all.  
“...” Monokuma lets the moment of silence drag on. You try to keep face and not falter against his stare. You think you heard someone cough. “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm fine I’ll take it,” Monokuma finally decides. “Specifically, you were supposed to prove that I was lying, but I’ll let this slide, I guess.” He turns around and shrugs, raising his paws and shaking his head. “Man I am waay too forgiving! Whatever, it sounds like miss Ultimate Seer over here was able to prove my ‘lie’ about losing years of your life wrong.” You beam. A smile pops on your face as a surge of accomplishment shoots through you. Yes!! With the stress of years of lost life gone, Hanamura won’t be worried about his mom, and he won’t be urged to become the first blackened! “But!!” Monokuma continues, “That is the only thing you were able to prove as a lie, upupupu.”  
“Huh?” You’re unsure if you were the one who made the sound, but either way it echoed through the rest of your classmates.  
“Maybe you didn’t lose all the years everyone spent together in Hope’s Peak Academy, just maybe,” he says almost teasingly, spinning around and looking directly at you. “But! You guys definitely lost a lot of your memories! Otherwise, how can you explain this?”  
“Explain what?” you say with a challenging tone, cutting him off. Monokuma backs off a bit, raising his paws in defense.  
“Upupu, how menacing. Well, the moment you all stepped into Hope’s Peak Academy, every single one of you bastards experienced a strange dizziness, right?” Reactionary murmurs erupt after his statement. Monokuma, proud of his minimal chaos, continues, “Upupupu, essentially, that was the point your memories broke off. Every memory you bastards have had since that point has been extracted and deleted! Well, until the moment you arrived on this island that is.”  
“S, so..?” Surprisingly, Mikan comes to your side. Your eyes widen as the meek girl walks up with a rebuttal. “Y, you, you say th, things like.. ‘Extracted and deleted’.. B, but, that doesn’t really make sense, right? That dizziness, it w, would be more likely to have been the cause of some sort of airborne in, incapacitating agent?” She starts clinging to your arm and hiding behind you a bit. You feel her hand tremble. “I, I, I mean, um, wouldn’t you have to keep us unconscious until n, now? You know, to transport us from the front gates of Hope’s Peak to here… So it would make sense if we wouldn’t have any memories of the time where unconscious… r, right?” Inwardly, you’re shocked to have her stand by you and defend you like this, but you don’t doubt the situation. You take Mikan’s hand and give her an affirmative nod. She seems to be a little less hesitant.  
“That’s right,” Mahiru adds, stepping up to your side. “Why don’t you give us a little proof that you didn’t just knock us out for a little bit rather than sci-fi-ingly extract our memories or whatever? Isn’t an explanation like this infinitely more reasonable?” You smile at her, feeling a warmth growing in your heart. You face back to Monokuma, tightening your grip on Mikan’s hand. Monokuma starts letting out a frustrated sound.  
“That’s right! Well done, students!” Monomi cheers from the background, ignoring Monokuma’s buildup. “This is really what it should be like to work together!”  
“GgnnnaaahhH!! Fine!!! I don’t have your damn evidence! Whatever!” he bursts, throwing a tantrum. “I guess you won’t believe that Monomi stole years of your memories, but maybe you’ll believe this!” He raises a paw menacingly, showcasing his claws. Your side kind of tingles. “I’m really trying my hardest here! To finally get things rolling and provide a motive for you bastards!!”  
“A motive?” Mahiru questions, putting a hand on her hip and tilting her head. She and a few other students look amongst each other, waiting for Monokuma to continue.  
“You know, the kind of motive where you’d get to have your memories back if you start the killing game!” He huffs before crossing his arms. “Oh well, since you seem to be ever so confident that all I’ve said so far is a lie, I might as well keep saying things!” You raise an eyebrow. What is he talking about? He’s going to talk about the ‘traitor amongst us,’ right? Something makes you feel uneasy. Monokuma laughs and puts his paws on his belly. “Let’s see, what can I give you bastards as another motive? Upupupu! Oh I know! I’ll give the ‘Special Blood Perk!’” Huh? The ‘Special Blood Perk?’ Is this supposed to be like the ‘First Blood Perk’ from New Danganronpa V3? Huh?? You feel your face involuntarily contort in confusion.  
“‘Special Blood Perk?’ What the hell are you trying to get at?” Kuzuryu says, clearly annoyed and uneasy at the idea of it. You feel Mikan’s grip tighten.  
“There are seventeen of you bastards here, right? But, there were only supposed to be sixteen Hope’s Peak Academy students from the 77th class coming to this island! Isn’t that weird?” His mechanical mouth opens up, displaying rows of sharpened teeth as he makes the motion of laughing. “Upupu! I’ve got it! It means that one of you is a traitor, whose identity is unknown amongst all of you! A traitor who’s a watchdog for the people who brought you to this island! And maybe even forcing you to participate in this killing game!! Upupupu!” He abruptly stops his laughing and brings a paw to his mouth. “... Or something like that.”  
“W, what the fuck are you saying? What’s this talk about a traitor!?” Kuzuryu reacts, visibly tense and sweating.  
“It is nonsense.” Pekoyama raises an arm to her chest defensively. “He is just trying to confuse us,” she says, as if trying to convince herself. Monokuma giggles.  
“But, can you really be sure of that? You know nothing about each other, after all.” He then glances over at Pekoyama and Kuzuryu. “Well most of you at least. You don’t know each other’s true natures!” He lowers his head menacingly. “Would any of you even notice if one of you was scheming murder? I don’t think you would! Would you?!” There’s a pause. You can see the other students glance waringly at each other from the corner of your eye, but you don’t break your gaze from Monokuma. You’ve heard this speal before, but what about that ‘Special Blood Perk?’  
“...” You feel Mikan let go of your hand. You lock eyes with her before she turns to look at the ground.  
Monokuma relaxes and leans back nonchalantly. ”You see, if I’m right and there really is a traitor among you, that would be a terrible thing. Don’t you want to get revenge on the imposter who’s trying to trick you? Are you really going to let them get away with this? Of course not! Your only choice is to attack first! Whoever’s the fastest is going to win this lottery! If you want to survive, you’ll have to kill before you get kil-!”  
“Shut up!” The words leave your mouth before you realized you said it. “A, all you’re trying to do is, um, make us worried about things that aren’t even real!” Your losing confidence in your own words. You’ve created lies out of his truth, so who are you to even suggest these kinds of things? “You just keep s, saying things that will put us on edge! I believe there’s no traitor at all.” You’re careful to phrase your statement as you did or else you’d probably have to present evidence again. But are you making the right decision? The decision to raise everyone’s moral and possibly change the plot of this story. To change the future of these students. “And that’s what I believe.”  
There’s a pause as you and Monokuma stare each other down. No one else makes a sound.  
“Upupu?” Monokuma cocks his head to the side and puts a paw near his mouth. “It’s pretty interesting that you’d say something like that, Miss Traitor.”

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A/N: Thanks you so much for reading!! What do you think? Cool chapter right? Lots of ideas coming along, the imposter's growing suspicion of you, chianki's sudden interest in you, ko's test of your hope, fuyuhiko and peko's relationship reveal, and monokuma's claim that you're the traitor!! I plan on elaborating on all these subplots, but i just need the time to actually write. Which one is your favorite? Don't forget to check out the Nagito Komaeda Fanzine! (talentlessartblog.tumblr.com/post/173404674146/komaeda-zine-lucky-a-komaeda-nagito-zine) and I hope the next update won't take too long ^^


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